NCIS, Transformed
by Emerald1
Summary: When it's only Monday and McGee's phone just transformed into an alien robot, you know the rest of the week is gonna suck. Tuesday's arrival of the killer blonde with a really long tongue and a crush on DiNozzo doesn't bode well either. Movie Challenge.
1. Chapter 1

When it's only Monday and McGee's phone just transformed into an alien robot, you know the rest of the week is just gonna suck. Tuesday's arrival of the killer blonde with the really long tongue and the crush on DiNozzo doesn't bode well either.

Written for the Threat and Movie Madness challenges

NCIS, Transformed

"Is that a new, what do you call it, a new app you are downloading?" Ziva perched on the corner of McGee's desk watching as he disconnected his new phone from his computer.

"Yeah, I'm done with it though." He looked around to see if Gibbs was around.

"Done with it for now, you mean McTech. How many apps have you put on that fancy phone of yours? You're like a kid with a new toy with that thing. Oh, wait, it is your new toy." Tony cackled as McGee blushed and shoved the phone into his pocket.

Ziva was more interested in the technology than she was willing to admit, so she resorted to teasing. "What does this one do? Does it keep track of the women in your life?"

"No." McGee turned even redder. Knowing he wasn't going to be left alone until he answered her question he pulled the phone back out of his pocket and opened up the new program he had just installed. "This is the OmniFocus. It detects my location using either Wi-Fi or GPS and creates lists from the tasks I've uploaded into my calendar in the most convenient order."

Tony just rolled his eyes and went back to the free cell game he had running on his computer, while Ziva was intrigued. "Are there many of these apps? If I decide to get myself one of these phones could you show me which apps are the most useful?"

"There's thousands of apps out there, Ziva, but yeah I can get you started." He ducked his head down as Gibbs walked into the squad room.

"Gear up, people." He tossed the keys to McGee. "Do you have an app that will gas the truck?"

"Well, actually there is one that…"

"McGee!!"

"Gassing the truck, Boss."

Deferring to Gibbs' apparent bad mood, no one asked for details until they were well away from the Navy Yard. Tony never missed an opportunity to remind the rest of the team that he was the senior agent; unfortunately it had its down side, like now. "So, Boss, what's the case?"

"Some damn pencil pusher with too much time on his hands." DiNozzo winced as he glanced over at Ziva and through the small window at McGee. Whatever was going on, it was going to be a long day.

---NCIS---

"Let me get this right, Major Lowe. You want us to investigate Staff Sergeant Shaffer because you don't like the way he doodles?" Gibbs stood in the stuffy office, glaring at the man that had called them out. A three hour drive for some doodles did not impress him. Behind him DiNozzo and David also exchanged looks. The only one not annoyed at the apparent wasted trip was McGee who was currently in the doorway to the outer office, looking at the papers scattered over the desk there. Unlike the random scribbles he expected, Shaffer had drawn the same symbol over and over. The man in question seemed unaware of his surroundings, his knee bouncing to a rhythm only in his own head.

McGee stepped closer to the Staff Sergeant, but before he could say anything, the other man attacked him. Tim turned and tried to brace himself, but Shaffer had at least fifty pounds on him added to his momentum and they both went down hard. Shaffer kicked the door between the two offices closed as he rolled on top of McGee. The two men rolled on the floor, both trying to gain the upper hand as Shaffer grabbed Tim around the throat. Tim used both fists to punch Shaffer in the face, causing him to loosen his grasp on Tim's neck. Shaffer responded by flipping them both over, against the door, blocking it.

Still annoyed at the pre-coffee call, Gibbs mentally dismissed the complaint and prepared to finish up and leave. Out of the corner of his eye he watched McGee move closer to the rogue doodler the Major was so worried about. Before his gut could catch up with what he was seeing, Shaffer dove at McGee. The three agents converged on the door, but it was slammed shut before they reached it. Tony pulled his gun and tried to shoulder the door open, but it was now blocked. Gibbs and DiNozzo worked together, trying to force the door open while Ziva changed directions and climbed out the window to race around the building.

On the other side of the door, McGee was momentarily stunned by a head butt. Shaffer almost had enough time to pull McGee's gun before he recovered. With one hand wedging his SIG Sauer into his holster, McGee's options were limited. He pulled one leg up and raked his shoe down Shaffer's shin. This broke off the attack for a brief few seconds, allowing McGee to roll them away from the door, not noticing Shaffer reach into McGee's jacket pocket. At the same time, a hard shove from the other side of the door helped propel them across the floor and allowed the other two agents to come to his aid. Ziva burst through the outer door at the same time, gun drawn. She stood, gun at the ready as Gibbs and DiNozzo each grabbed an arm and pulled Shaffer off McGee. It was all the two men could do to hang onto him, bringing his wrists together to be handcuffed was impossible as he continued to struggle and scream.

"They're going to want you. I'm not good enough, they're going to want you." Shaffer managed to throw DiNozzo off of him and lunge at McGee again, dragging Gibbs with him. Now with the space to move, McGee drew back his fist and delivered a hard blow to Shaffer's face. The enraged man staggered back and this time Gibbs wasted no time in throwing him down and rolling him onto his stomach. By now Ziva had pulled Tony back up onto his feet and the two of them assisted Gibbs in handcuffing Shaffer. Even handcuffed, the man continued to kick and scream, no longer making any kind of sense.

"McGee, are you all right?" Gibbs stumbled to his feet, then bent over, trying to catch his breath. Also gasping for air, McGee nodded before attempting to rise. Gibbs grabbed him, hauling him the rest of the way up while the other two continued to hang onto their new prisoner. The Major was standing in the door, dumbfounded. Once McGee had his feet under him, Gibbs let go and swung around. "You didn't mention that he was violent."

Lowe stared at them. "He isn't, or at least he wasn't. He would just sit and stare out the window and doodle that same weird shape over and over." Four armed MP's arrived, cutting off anything else Major Lowe might have said.

DiNozzo shoved the cuffed man towards the MP's. "So nice of you boys to finally show up." One of the men started to apologize but then Shaffer's eyes rolled back and he began to choke. Before they could get him on the ground, he was in a full seizure. The base medic arrived much quicker than the MP's had, but even then there was nothing he could do. Doodling on government property had been upgraded to assault on a federal officer and now it was upgraded to suspicious death, causes unknown. To top it off, Gibbs still did not have any coffee and now it looked like he was not getting any in the foreseeable future.

"Great, just great, how big of a drug problem do you have on this base, Major Lowe?"

Gibbs' question seemed to catch the officer off guard. "You think he was high on something?"

"Unless you've got a better idea," Gibbs stared at him, willing him to offer up some explanation for the morning's events. When none were given, he started barking out demands. "I want to see everything Shaffer was working on starting six weeks before he started acting strange. Get his friends and roommates in here now, and Ziva, call Ducky and…"

The Israeli woman hung up her phone and interrupted him. "Ducky will be here in an hour." When she saw the questions on the faces of her teammates, she smiled and explained. "He's not at headquarters, he's giving a lecture at a college nearby. Palmer will have him on the road as soon as the lecture is over."

"Good." Gibbs was pleased at that one piece of news. The last thing he wanted to do was to wait three hours for the coroner's van to arrive. In the meantime, he moved his team to a nearby vacant office to conduct interviews, leaving the MP's with the body.

---NCIS---

"I'm sorry, Agent Gibbs, I don't know what else I can tell you." Shaffer's roommate shook his head as he continued to apologize. "We weren't all that close, and then he got really strange about a month ago; I'm sorry."

"Strange how?" Gibbs inquired, trying hard not to stare at the cup of coffee in the witness's hand. Rule 43, never take food offered at a crime scene, was in serious jeopardy.

"He kept going back out to that field. He just couldn't stay away; he'd sneak out there almost every night with a flashlight like he was looking for something."

"Or someone?"

"Maybe. I don't know. Like I said, we weren't all that close."

Gibbs moved over to the wall covered with a large map of the base and surrounding area. "Show me which field he was interested in." Once it had been identified he tossed the keys to DiNozzo. "Take McGee with you and see what you can find out there."

"On it, Boss." DiNozzo caught the keys and strode for the door, passing Ziva on the way. "Probie and I are out of here, guess you're stuck with a caffeine deprived Gibbs, Ziva."

"Not for long." She pointed to the Medical Examiner's van entering the main gate. "I had Ducky stop in town for coffee." McGee came up behind them, grinning.

"Is somebody trying to be the new favorite while Abby is at the forensics convention? She'll be back tomorrow." Ziva just smirked at both of them as she moved out of their way.

---NCIS---

DiNozzo set the kit down on the ground and wiped his face with his sleeve. They had been searching the field for over two hours and had discovered nothing but rocks and dirt. He looked over at McGee who was stumbling towards him, looking pale and drawn. Tony felt a twinge of guilt that he hadn't suggested Ducky look the kid over after his fight with Shaffer. McGee was limping slightly and slight bruises were visible on his neck. "McGee, take a break for a few minutes and get some water." There was no response and McGee continued to walk, angling slightly away from Tony. "Hey, you okay?" He picked his kit back up and moved to intercept his partner. McGee shook him off and kept walking, staring at the ground.

"It's close, I can tell."

"What's close, McGee?"

"Can't you feel it, Tony? It's right around here."

Remembering Shaffer and what happened to him, DiNozzo started to worry. He reached for McGee but before his fingers brushed his coat, the other man dropped to his knees and started moving a pile of rocks out of his way. "He was right, it is here." McGee cried out and dropped a rock, clutching his hand. Tony tried again to grab at him, but McGee again shook him off. "Get me an evidence jar." Automatically, DiNozzo pulled one out of the kit and handed it over. He watched as McGee used the lid to scoop the small rock into the jar and then closed the lid tight.

"What is it?"

McGee just shook his head. He seemed more aware of his surroundings, Tony was grateful to note. Perhaps it had just been the heat he thought, and then McGee held his hand out for him to see. A burn was etched across his palm, the same size and shape as the rock shard McGee had just collected.

"What the hell…" DiNozzo reached out and held his hand over the other rocks that had been in the same pile. Nothing seemed out of place and he gingerly touched the tip of his index finger on one of the rocks, instantly jerking it away. It was slightly warm from the sun, but that was it. He looked carefully at the rock now contained in the glass jar. It was an odd color, not matching anything else around them, with jagged edges and an unfamiliar texture. He reached for his phone, but there was no signal.

"Let me try, I've got a different carrier." McGee pulled his phone out and activated it. At first nothing happened, then a blue glow filled the screen. McGee frowned, it had never done that before. He tried to scroll through the stored numbers, but the phone started to unfold and wrapped around his arm. He stared at it as legs began to emerge. "Tony!"

"What the hell…" Repeating himself because nothing else seemed to meet his needs, DiNozzo fell back on his butt and stared at the fancy gadget that was now attacking his partner. McGee was slapping at it, trying to rip it off his arm. He finally knocked it off and scrambled back, the phone giving chase. The phone, now resembling a giant spider again wrapped around his arm. It was McGee's third yell for help that got DiNozzo moving again and he dashed to a dead snag and grabbed a broken branch. Wielding it like a bat, he knocked it off McGee's arm. It landed, legs in the air, as the two men scuttled backwards. Once they were a few feet clear, Tony pulled McGee upright and the two men began to run to the van, scooping up the evidence jar as they ran.

They made it almost twenty feet before an impact against his back drove McGee to the ground. DiNozzo stumbled to his knees but was able to hang onto the wooden weapon he was carrying. "McGee, can you shake it loose?"

"Trying!" He batted against it, finally grasping one of the legs and flung it as far as he could. Airborne, it was a perfect target and DiNozzo swung for the bleachers. Once it landed, they both opened fire, emptying their clips. Pieces of metal flew as the robotic phone shattered. One of the legs attempted to slither to them and McGee stomped it until it finally stopped moving

"What the hell… what the hell app did you download for your phone, McGee?"


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n - Having fun yet? gonna be a wild ride as our boys are about ti find out.**

"Talk to me, Duck." Gibbs stood over the Medical Examiner as he looked over the body of Staff Sergeant Shaffer. There was something about this base that bothered Gibbs and he wanted a quick resolution to the case.

Dr. Mallard continued the exam, used to the rants of the other man. He positioned the liver probe as he spoke. "Really, Jethro, I just got here. You could give me a few minutes to at least properly meet the deceased."

"You don't need a liver probe to know what time he died, Ducky. We were here, remember?"

"Procedure, my good man." Ducky removed the probe and whistled at the results. "According to this, he will die sometime early this evening." He bent over and pulled one of Shaffer's eyelids back. Even in the short time since his demise, the corneas had begun to cloud over.

"What?" It took a second for Ducky's words to register and for Gibbs to bark out a response. "He's still alive?"

"Heavens, no, if he were the liver probe would have been quite uncomfortable. However, our Sergeant was running quite a fever when he died, which will make confirmation of the TOD a tad difficult. We will be forced to be satisfied with your estimation."

"A fever?" Ziva stepped closer to not raise an alarm, even though her voice would have clued anyone in that something was wrong. "Was he contagious? He attacked McGee."

Palmer brought the plastic close so they could begin to wrap the body before placing it in a bag. Ducky didn't answer until they had him securely wrapped. "Contagious, who knows? Until we know for sure, we'll treat it as such. I'll have Abby put a rush on the lab work when she gets back in the morning, unless you want me to have it sent to the FBI's lab today?"

Fornell aside, Gibbs opinion of the FBI was well known. Palmer spoke up before he even thought about it. "A lot of the tests I can do myself, Agent Gibbs. That is, if it's all right with you and with Dr. Mallard."

"Excellent thought, Mr. Palmer." Ducky gave his approval to his assistant. It would give them a jump start without involving an outside lab, something the agents at NCIS were loath to do. Thinking about what Ziva had said about McGee, he turned back to Gibbs. "Just to be safe, I should give Timothy a quick once over when he gets back to headquarters. Be sure to send him down to me." Just to make sure, he waited until Ziva nodded also before continuing to prepare the body to be moved.

Gibbs barely acknowledged Ducky's request to examine McGee before he was moving back to Major Lowe's office, Ziva at his heels. The major had been strangely reluctant to hand over what Shaffer had been working on, and Gibbs' patience had just about worn out. "Major, do you have authorization yet to hand over those files?"

"Not yet, Agent Gibbs." Lowe seemed to become more nervous as the day progressed. "It's the middle of the night over there."

Gibbs was not in the mood for these games and was a little worried about McGee and DiNozzo if he were honest with himself. They had been gone almost four hours without calling in to complain even once. "Over where?"

Major Lowe hesitated until he saw the look on Gibbs' face. "Diego Garcia."

"Diego Garcia?" Gibbs wracked his brain; it sounded familiar but he couldn't place it. It was Ziva who gave him the answer.

"In the Indian Ocean? You have to get approval from someone stationed all the way over there?"

Patience gone, Gibbs snapped at the Major. "Either wake someone up over there or go over their head and call further up the chain of command. I'm not going to sit here all day without a decision." Lowe's desk phone rang at that moment and he practically dove to answer it.

"Sir, yes, sir… I understand, sir… I will inform him of that, sir… I'm sure he will pass that on, sir… good day, sir." He set down the phone and turned his attention to Gibbs. "Director Galloway regrets to inform you that your agency does not have clearance to look at the files in question."

"Director Galloway of?" Gibbs waited for the Major to fill in the blank. When the Major didn't, Gibbs' irritation grew. "The last time I checked, this was a Marine Corps base, therefore under the jurisdiction of NCIS. So, I am going to ask one more time, who the hell is Galloway?"

"National Security Advisor Galloway reports directly to the President. He has been named liaison for the commission regarding the matter of which you do not yet have clearance for. He suggests that if you have any questions you have your director make a request to the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

That level of doubletalk made Gibbs blink and even Ziva was stunned. Gibbs turned slowly to look directly at him. "You are telling me that the President and the Joint Chiefs are worried about what a Staff Sergeant was working on when he died? On this little second hand base?"

Lowe bristled at the comment. "We may be a small base, Agent Gibbs, but what we work on here is of the utmost importance. I'll be waiting for you to receive clearance." In an obvious dismissal he returned to his own paperwork. Gibbs glared at him for a few seconds then stormed out the door. Ziva scrambled to get out of his way, and then scrambled to keep up.

---NCIS---

DiNozzo and McGee looked at each other. The last echo from the gunfire was fading and they realized how remote of a location they were in. The two men began walking towards the MCRT van, picking up speed as they went. DiNozzo pulled up short and grabbed McGee's arm. "Did you see that?"

"See what?"

"It was like a light flashed against the van. Are you sure you didn't see it?"

"Tony," McGee was panting and would have fallen if DiNozzo hadn't caught him. "In comparison to the day so far, why are you worried about a light?"

"Good point, let's get out of here." He tugged McGee who had stopped dead in his tracks.

"Do you see that, Tony?" McGee was staring past the van. The other man glared at him.

"We just did this, McGee, and you said…"

"No, Tony, look." Tim pointed and Tony could see what he was talking about, but still had no idea what it was. Whatever it was, it was large and silver and moving towards them at a high rate of speed. McGee was still trying to determine what it was, while DiNozzo took the more practical approach.

"Let's get out of here, now."

They ran, full out, trying to reach the van but the explosion that destroyed it knocked them both off their feet. The front bumper sailed over their heads to land in the field. As they lay on the gravel road, the silver object grew closer, but they couldn't see it clearly through the dust and smoke in the air. Coughing, Tony climbed to his hands and knees, waiting for the dizziness to pass. Beside him, McGee was trying to roll to his side in an effort to regain his footing. DiNozzo grasped his arm and the two of them leaned against each other as they struggled to stand. Running more on instinct than anything else, DiNozzo tugged McGee until they were back off the road and in the field. From there they had a better view of the approaching item. It was even bigger than they had first thought and looked like a huge metal cat, running on all fours, a heavy spiked tail swishing behind it. Without debate, they turned to run in the opposite direction. McGee was still looking over his shoulder as they ran and plowed into Tony when the other man came to a stop.

"Why'd you stop?" McGee turned and yelled, then saw why. Another large metallic object was coming at them from the other direction. This one ran upright on two feet with a slightly humanoid appearance. Changing direction once again, the two men ran for the nearby grove of trees. They circled around a fallen tree too large to jump over and ducked down behind it.

"Robots? When did the Marine Corps start building robots, McGeek?"

"How the hell would I know? They sure don't look like anything I've ever seen before." The catbot tumbled on the ground, changing its shape as it rolled, coming to stand on two feet with similar proportions and shape as the second robot. They watched and listened as the two metal giants collided. Engaged in battle, neither robot reacted when the two human ran through the trees, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the battling robots.

Both men remembered the basic layout of the base from the wall map they had studied and were able to cut across various fields and practice areas to reach the cluster of office buildings in the center of the base. They pulled up short as they came to the building housing Major Lowe's office, gasping for air. Neither of them had come up with how to explain their experiences when Gibbs came storming out of the building with Ziva hurrying to keep up.

Gibbs looked at the two men, relieved to see them back. They both had stunned expressions on their faces and were covered with dirt and bits of greenery. "What happened to you two?"

McGee and DiNozzo looked at each other, but it was DiNozzo that spoke up. "Wild story, Boss. Long wild story."

The two men were back and relatively intact and Gibbs wanted nothing more than to get off the base. "Fine. You can tell me on the way back. Let's get out of here." DiNozzo's phone chose that moment to ring and Tony sent it sailing in a panic. The battery popped off when it landed and the two rattled agents attacked the two pieces, stomping them to bits.

Ziva smirked at them. "You do know there is an ignore button on the phone?" Gibbs just held his hand up to stop any explanation.

"I don't know what's going on, but you can tell us the whole story on the way back."

McGee looked up from where he was still poking at the remains of the phone. "Umm, Boss, getting back might be a problem."

Gibbs glared at him. "No, it's not because you two nuts are not driving. I am." He turned and began walking to the van which was now parked on the other side of the lot. "DiNozzo, that phone is coming out of your paycheck."

DiNozzo wasn't worried about the cost of the phone; he had bigger concerns at the moment, concerns that McGee shared with him.

"How'd the van get here, McGee?"

"It's not our van. Ours blew up, remember?" They watched in dread as the left tail light shifted and rotated into position. "Oh, crap. How are we going to tell Gibbs?"

"How the hell should I know? You're the tech guy, think of something?"

"Me? You're the senior agent."

"Can it both of you and get in. I want off this damn base." Gibbs threw the driver's side door open and climbed in, slamming it shut as he yelled.

Ziva muttered "children" as she also got in the vehicle. The look on her face told them they would find no support on that front. Slowly they took their customary places as Gibbs floored the accelerator. DiNozzo kept looking through the window into the back while McGee shifted from staring at DiNozzo and examining every inch of the back of the box van that was suddenly not so familiar.

They were waved past the main gate with not even a second glance. DiNozzo wasn't sure if that was good or bad, convinced that any second they would be arrested for stealing top-secret government weaponry. Of course, if he were honest, Gibbs was the one technically stealing the weapon, but he just knew he was the one going to be blamed for it. He turned back to McGee again, but the other man still looked shell-shocked and was not going to be using his creative writing skills to come up with a reasonable sounding explanation before Gibbs starting demanding answers.

"Start talking, DiNozzo."

"Well, Boss, it's like this…" He looked back at McGee one last time who only shrugged his shoulders. "He, we, they…"

"If I wanted a grammar lesson, I'd ask McGee. Now what has got the two of you so rattled?"

"They've got some pretty big secrets on that base, Boss."

"Well yeah, DiNozzo, I know."

"You know?"

"You do?"

Ziva's head kept swiveling between the three men. "Wait a minute. Tony, are you saying you and McGee know what the secret…" She stopped speaking as she threw up her arms to prevent her face from smacking into the dashboard. "Gibbs, why did you stop like that?"

"I didn't." Gibbs was looking at the gauges and trying to rev the engine to no avail. "I don't know what's wrong with it. Maybe the transmission or…"

A frantic look passed between McGee and DiNozzo before they reacted. McGee scrambled out the back door as DiNozzo grabbed Ziva's arm and started pulling and yelling. "Crap, everybody out now!" Gibbs bellowed at them to get back in but then his door flew open and he found himself sliding out and onto the ground.

McGee fell out the door as he saw what was following them. A large military hummer was gaining speed as it barreled down the two lane road towards them. Without slowing, it began to transform into the giant metallic cat from the earlier attack. His feet slid as he took the corner around the van and headed to where Gibbs was still laying. "Tony, we've got company!"

Tony circled around the front of the van as he heard McGee shout. "Not again."

Ziva looked at him, then at what he was staring at. "What is it?"

Not listening to the conversations around him, Gibbs watched, transfixed, as the side mirrors folded up against the body and the engine compartment rotated up onto the cab. DiNozzo and McGee each grabbed one of his arms and dragged him backwards out of the way as the MCRT van stood up. Ziva was still frozen in place and Tony snagged her sleeve as they ran past, not stopping until they were down in a ditch, covering their heads.

The catbot leapt and hit the other robot mid-chest. They both went down and rolled twice. Their robot was the first one back on its feet and charged the cat, tossing it in the air. Mid-air, the catbot changed into the two legged version and ran at their robot again. The ground shook when they collided and the four human witnesses dove further down into the ditch. This fight seemed to last much longer than the last one to DiNozzo. When they heard the roar of one of the robots leaving he raised his head up enough to see. The robot he was now thinking of as theirs was standing facing them. There was a piece of metal lying near the scene of the fight but he could see no visible damage on the robot so it must have come from the attacking one. He and McGee stood for a second before Gibbs grabbed them and yanked them back down into the ditch, glaring at them both.

"Did I miss a memo about an upgrade to the truck?"


	3. Chapter 3

**a/n - Having fun yet? I am. Thanks for all the comments so far.**

The robot knelt down on one knee, bringing him down low enough to make eye contact with the four agents as they climbed out of the ditch. Ziva was staring at it, unblinking, while Gibbs kept looking between the robot and the two agents who apparently knew more than he did about it at the moment. Tony was still staring at the robot also while he was waiting for the head slap he knew must be coming. Tim, usually the most timid member of the team, was the first to step forward and speak.

"Umm, hi." He gave a half wave as he spoke, looking back at his teammates to see if any of them were ready to take over. Not even Gibbs seemed to be past the shock and ready to speak. Sighing, he tried to continue, but was interrupted.

"You are the one known as McGee?" The robot's voice was smooth and rich sounding. All four agents took a step back as it spoke, then Tony shoved McGee forward.

"He likes you, Probie."

McGee hissed over his shoulder. "Real funny, DiNozzo." He took a deep breath and faced the robot. "How do you know who I am, and what do you want with us?"

"Your technical knowledge and skills have caught the attentions of many in this war."

Behind them, DiNozzo turned to Gibbs. "What war is he talking about? Iraq?" Gibbs hushed him as he tried to listen.

"You have felt the pull of the Allspark and even though you did not understand, you answered it. It has accepted you and those you trust. Now it is my duty to protect you and your knowledge from the Decepticons. I am Ratchet."

The other three humans stared at McGee, but it was DiNozzo that spoke up. "I should have known it was all your fault, Probie."

Ratchet growled and made to stand; DiNozzo quickly stepped behind Ziva.

McGee looked down the road, towards the base. "That other robot, was that a Decepticon?"

"It was."

"The military didn't build any of you, did they? At least no military on this planet."

"That is true." Ratchet was pleased at how quickly the human known as McGee was accepting of the truth. The humans he associated with appeared to be recovering from their shock as well.

Even as he spoke, Gibbs couldn't believe he was having a conversation with the MCRT van. "Do you mean that there's more than the two of you?"

"That is also true, as McGee and the other human have already discovered."

Ziva turned to DiNozzo. "Did you think your phone was one of these Decepticons?" Tony was still slightly embarrassed by his overreaction earlier.

"Yeah, well McGee's phone was, and it attacked him."

"It attacked you?" Gibbs looked closer at McGee. "You okay?"

McGee waved off the concern. "It'll keep. I really think we need to get out of here before any more of them show up." Gibbs silently agreed with him, having no desire to repeat their earlier experience. Ziva had a question, though.

"How long have we been driving around with him?" She pointed to Ratchet, trying to imagine how handy he would have been on some of the cases they had recently solved.

DiNozzo shook his head. "Sorry, Ziva, it's just been since we drove off the base." He knew what was coming, but hadn't quite come up with an answer, even though they had already seen what kind of damage two battling robots could do.

"If this van is one of the robots, then what happened to ours? Where is it?" Both Ziva and Gibbs were looking at him and then McGee for a response.

"Yeah, well it's over there," he pointed to the Southwest, "and some of it's over there." He turned slightly and pointed again. McGee gave a slight smile as he also pointed, again in a totally different direction.

"I think the bumper is that way." When they were met by blank stares, he clarified. "The other robot blew it up."

Gibbs stared at McGee. "Blew it up? The other robot blew up our truck? How do you suggest we explain that to the director?" McGee blinked then smiled and pointed at DiNozzo.

"Tony was the last one to drive it."

"Thanks, McGoo." He would have razzed the younger agent more, but McGee suddenly swayed. Both he and Gibbs reached him as his knees buckled and together they eased him down. DiNozzo took a closer look and saw the bloodstains that were almost hidden by the dark color of the NCIS jacket. He pulled the jacket down off Tim's shoulders, exposing his bloody and torn sleeve. "Damn it, why didn't you say something?"

Tim tried to shake him off as he stood back up. "We really, really need to get out of here before that Decepticon comes back with some of his buddies."

Gibbs decided he really didn't want to meet up with a group of Decepticons right now. "He's right. DiNozzo, you ride in the back with him and take care of his arm. Let's get going." Ziva met him at the driver's side door.

"I can drive back if you'd like."

Tony yelled from the back of the truck. "We've had enough excitement for one day Ziva." Between the comment and then the glare from Gibbs, Ziva conceded and moved back to the passenger side. Once everyone was inside, Ratchet spoke up.

"I will drive myself."

"Oh, now wait a minute…"

Ratchet answer Gibbs by slamming the doors shut and starting down the road. The senior agent found it quite disconcerting to be sitting in the driver's seat of a vehicle he had no control over and found himself looking back through the window instead. DiNozzo was patching up McGee as best he could with the limited supplies he had.

"Gibbs!"

Ziva's hiss brought his attention back to the front. "What?"

She jerked her head towards the cars passing them now that they were closer to a town. "At least pretend you are looking at where we are going. I do not think we need to be pulled over right now."

"She is correct." Both of them jumped as Ratchet joined the conversation. "One of the Decepticons patrols as a false police car. We do not need to gain his attention. If you wish to move over, I can project a holographic image of a driver"

"A Decepticon police car…"

"You can project a…"

"Guys!" DiNozzo's yell from the back of the truck stopped their questions. "I don't think we should go back to the Yard." His three fellow agents looked at him in varying stages of surprise. It was McGee that spoke first.

"Tony's right. We need a plan in case there are any of the Decepticons already in the Navy Yard." McGee looked down at his arm, now tightly wrapped with the remnants of his shirt and remembered how small and innocent his phone had looked right before it transformed and attacked him. "They could be anywhere."

Ziva wasn't quite convinced. "The Navy Yard is a secure site, Tony. Surely it would be the best place under the circumstances; besides we need to tell the Director what has happened."

They were all correct to a point, Gibbs realized, deciding not to mention that the Marine Corps base they just left was a secure site also. There was one thing none of them had thought about yet. Jenny Shepard was not going to believe them until she saw the truck change into Ratchet and that was one event the Yard was not ready for. "We go to my place. The Director and Ducky can meet us there."

"The Director is meeting with the SecNav today. She won't be back until much later this afternoon." Ziva reminded Gibbs as she frowned. "Are you sure we should bring Ducky into this?"

Gibbs jabbed his thumb over his shoulder towards the other two agents. "McGee's going to need more medical care than we can give him**. **Besides, we need to know what killed the Staff Sergeant and how it ties into all this." He pointed to a parking lot. "Pull in there. We need some supplies." Gibbs was impressed that Ratchet parked in such a way that he could see the traffic from every direction and had a good emergency escape route. Once they were parked, he gave out orders. "DiNozzo, get whatever you need to take care of McGee until we can meet up with Ducky. Ziva, food and bottled water, you know the drill." Without waiting for a confirmation, he climbed out and moved to the back door. As soon as DiNozzo was out, Gibbs replaced him in the back.

McGee didn't even have to open his eyes to know he was being watched. "I'll be okay Boss." He heard the snort he got in response.

"You're going to have to do better than that, McGee. You look like hell, kid."

"Yeah, well it's been a hell of a day."

Gibbs gave a wry laugh as he patted the other man's knee. "I can't argue with that, McGee."

---NCIS---

He had to give them credit, DiNozzo and David could shop in a hurry under the right circumstances. Ziva arrived back first with cases of water and bags of lightweight meals designed for backpackers. Vacuum sealed packs of nuts and dried fruit rounded out her purchases. They could be off the grid for weeks with what she had brought. Gibbs decided not to remind her they would be at his house with its fully stocked kitchen in just a few hours. DiNozzo took a little longer, but he arrived even more laden with supplies. Short of a scalpel, they had enough medical supplies to perform surgery and minutes after DiNozzo's arrival McGee was properly rebandaged, wearing a zip front sweat shirt and resting comfortably on a soft pad. Gibbs bit back a chuckle, for all their bickering and fighting, when one of the two were injured, the other reverted to the worst mother hen he could imagine. Usually it was the impetuous DiNozzo taking one for the team, so during the few times the situation was reversed, McGee got it back in spades. Satisfied his partner was comfortable, DiNozzo dug through the bags of food, turning up his nose at the choices.

"We are sitting next to the best burger chain on the entire Eastern seaboard, Ziva. I am not eating freeze dried meatballs for lunch."

After a lunch that even Ziva admitted was better than freeze dried meatballs, Gibbs called Ducky.

"Ducky, what have you found out about Shaffer yet? Do you know what killed him?"

_~Jethro, I'm afraid I have found many abnormalities and few answers as of yet. You cannot believe how unusual this case has turned out to be.~_

"Unusual? Ducky, you have no idea. I need you to keep everything you find under wraps for now. Get the Director when she comes back in and the two of you meet us at my place at nineteen hundred hours."

_~What is going on? What about Timothy?~_

Gibbs cut him off. "Not a secure line, Duck. Nineteen hundred, and bring your medical bag. You'll have a patient to look after." He snapped the phone shut, not looking forward to the coming conversation with the Director.


	4. Chapter 4

**a/n - thanks all, I'm glad you're having fun with this one too. I'm working on chapter 11 right now, so lots more to come.**

By the time they reached Gibbs' neighborhood the older agent had mostly wrapped his head around what he knew so far and was anxious to know the rest, though he wasn't sure how Jenny would react to the day's events. McGee interrupted his thoughts.

"Boss, it might be a good idea if the truck isn't parked on the street."

"It's not going to fit in my garage, McGee. Any other suggestions?"

"How about the back yard?"

Gibbs turned and glared through the window. "Just how do you propose the truck gets back there? Climb over the fence and…" He sputtered to a stop as the rest of the team tried not to chuckle. "Okay, that's going to take some getting use to." He turned his attention to Ratchet. "Stay in the back yard and don't attract attention to yourself. One more thing, you step on my flower beds and I'll let the air out of your tires, you got that?"

"Affirmative, Agent Gibbs, however in the gesture of honesty I must tell you that my tires are made of a coated trithyllium-steel alloy and require no air."

"Really?"

"Later, McGee."

"Boss?"

"What, DiNozzo?"

"Are you sure you have enough booze? Cause I'm thinking we're probably gonna need a lot before the night's over."

He didn't answer, but mentally Gibbs was adding up the unopened bottles stashed away from Christmas's past. It really was going to be a long night.

---NCIS---

"Jethro, this had better be good." The angry feminine voice echoed down the stairs as Jenny Shepard arrived followed by Ducky and Palmer. "It's late and I'm tired. What happened that couldn't be discussed at headquarters?" She arrived at the bottom of the stairs to find the MCRT agents scattered throughout the basement, all looking uncomfortable at her arrival. Gibbs looked as if he'd been eating a lemon and Jenny knew instantly that she would be soothing some politician's feathers over something he had done. Ziva looked shell-shocked which did not bode well for the evening either, while DiNozzo looked ruffled and McGee looked very much the worst for wear. Ducky apparently was either very quick on the uptake or had prior knowledge of some of the events because he went straight to McGee and began examining him.

"Sit down and have a drink, Director, this is going to take a while." DiNozzo held out a bottle of bourbon which she immediately snatched out of his hands.

"Whatever the four of you have done, I think we better deal with it stone cold sober. Now what in the hell is going on? I've been dealing with politicians all day, so no beating around the bush, just tell me what you've gotten yourselves into."

Gibbs, David and DiNozzo looked at each other then turned and looked at McGee. Gibbs closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes he set his glass down on the workbench and stood up.

"Okay, short version is this. The base we were on is being overrun with giant alien robots who are fighting each other and getting the humans involved. We were attacked out there…"

"Ziva, long version."

"Yes, Director." Ziva picked up the story. "Actually, Director, we were not directly attacked. The one robot was attacking the other one and we were caught in the cross-fire. So was the van, but that was actually an earlier attack." Her voice faded out and she turned to Tony for rescue.

''Well, if you want to be really technical, they attacked McGee first. Well the Staff Sergeant attacked him and then the phone attacked him and then the big robot cat showed up and…"

"Stop!" Jenny looked around at the group then turned to Ducky. "They're all hallucinating; they've obviously been drugged. Get a blood sample from all of them right now so we can get to the bottom of this."

"Of course, Director. Mr. Palmer, if you would start the blood draws on the rest of them, I've already got a sample from Timothy here. Mr. Palmer? MR. PALMER?" Ducky and the Director both looked over at Palmer to see him standing in the middle of Gibbs' basement, smiling and waving his fingers at the window. Together they turned to see what he was looking at.

Flat on his stomach so he could look through the low windows was Ratchet, waving back at Palmer. Ducky was the first to find his voice.

"Oh, my."

Jenny stared at Ratchet, then at Gibbs. She turned back to Ratchet. Grinning, DiNozzo picked up the bottle from where she had set it earlier and filled a glass partway before handing it to her. She downed the entire shot and handed the glass back to Tony. "Jethro, you're going to need more bourbon."

---NCIS---

Since Ratchet could not join them in the basement, they adjourned to the deck. Ziva found a few candles for light rather than the floodlights that might attract unwanted attention. There were plenty of seats available, but Jenny preferred to stand so she could pace. She had heard the details of the team's adventures, now she wanted to hear from the robot. Jenny snorted as that thought went through her mind. Judging from the answering chuckle from Gibbs he'd had the same though at some point in the day. "All right, Ratchet, tell us about all this from your perspective."

Ratchet bowed his head slightly and then began to speak. "Several of your Earth years ago, a group of Decepticons came to Earth to find both their missing leader and the Allspark. We Autobots followed in an attempt to stop their attack and to protect the primitive life on this planet."

"What is the Allspark?"

"It is the source of our being, of all that there is. It created our home world of Cybertron and powered everything that there was. When the Great War came dividing our race into the Decepticons and the Autobots, it was thrown into deep space to protect it. Unfortunately it came to rest on your world."

That much power in one object could cause untold problems on Earth, Jenny realized. The wars over oil and other natural resources would be minor border skirmishes in comparison to the fight over something like this. "Where is the Allspark now?"

The artificial voice deepened, giving the impression of sorrow. "The Allspark was destroyed in the battle at Mission City. One shard of it was recovered and is in a secure vault at a Navy base in the Indian Ocean. We have been watching the Decepticon activity and have determined that they believe another piece survived among the wreckage from the battle. That debris was temporarily stored at the Marine base your people were at today, Director Shepard. The Decepticons have been searching for it."

DiNozzo and the rest of the group turned to McGee, who appeared lost in thought, so Tony asked the next question. "So what you are saying is that the rock McGee found is actually part of the Allspark?"

Ratchet looked at McGee with what almost seemed to be a look of respect. "You have touched a fragment of the Allspark. The knowledge contained within the Allspark must not fall into the hands of the Decepticons." He returned his attention to Gibbs this time. "The human who died today was close to the Allspark, but could not find it. Even that was too powerful for his mind, which had been corrupted by a Decepticon."

Jenny was trying to frantically put the pieces together. "Are others at the base also corrupted by Decepticons? They will know our people were there. Who do we trust?" Those questions started a free-for-all debate among the Director, Gibbs and Ziva, with Ducky and DiNozzo also giving their opinions. McGee ignored them and moved closer to Ratchet. Palmer followed him, but the rest of the group was too focused to pay attention as they argued over which agencies could be trusted to help.

The candles were almost burned down when Palmer gave a sharp whistle to get their attention. "McGee's got something."

Once they had the attention of the rest of the group, McGee started to explain. "I think we have found a way to scan for Decepticons. We need to make sure the Navy Yard is clean before we even think about what other agencies we can ask for help."

"He's right, Jen." She agreed with Gibbs as she turned to McGee.

"What do you need?"

McGee had already thought this through. "I'll need secure access to the North Sub Level Garage"

"Done."

Gibbs turned to Ducky. "Is he up to this?"

"I'm fine." The question may have been directed at Dr. Mallard, but it was McGee that answered. Gibbs wasn't convinced.

"Duck?"

The medical examiner looked him over with an appraising eye. "Under normal circumstances I'd insist he take it easy for a few days, but this is hardly normal and I don't think any of us have the technical know how to do what he has planned."

Gibbs wasn't happy but he had to agree with the doctor. It was Palmer who had the answer.

"Why don't I go with him? I can help him and make sure he doesn't overdo it."

"Good idea." Jenny knew a practical solution when she saw it. "Ziva, you go with them as added security."

Once the three humans and one alien were on their way to the Yard, the remaining crew returned to the basement to discuss the upcoming days and how best to deal with them. It was well past midnight before they came to the agreement that they would have to play it by ear, much to Jenny's dismay.


	5. Chapter 5

**a/n - Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. I think this is one of my favorite chapters and hope you like it too.**

Grateful for the change of clothes she kept in her car, Director Jennifer Shepard arrived at NCIS as if it were any normal day. When they were greeted with the knowledge that she had guests waiting in her outer office, Gibbs and DiNozzo joined her walking up the stairs, leaving Ducky to retreat to the relative safety of autopsy. The three exchanged troubled looks before Jenny marched in past Cynthia.

"And to what do we owe this early morning visit to, gentlemen?" A good offence was a strong defense, her father had always told her, and so she wasted no time. "Agent Fornell, introduce your guests, please."

Fornell looked amused as he made introductions while Sacks stood at his side. "They're not my guests, Director. We just decided to tag along to see what kind of trouble NCIS had gotten themselves into this time. This is Director Galloway, National Security Advisor to the President, and his assistant, Alice. Apparently Agent Gibbs had some problems with one of his boys yesterday." He hid his smile behind his cup of coffee while Sacks made no attempt to hide his amusement behind his own cup. They waited for the fireworks to start.

Gibbs immediately launched into a loud rant regarding his displeasure at being locked out of a death investigation on a Marine base as Jenny played the expected part of a peacemaker. Luckily, they both had a great deal of experience at their assigned rolls and could carry on virtually on autopilot. It was a good thing, too, as they had both noticed the shiny new espresso machine sitting on the side table in the Director's office. DiNozzo's attention was divided between the blonde woman at Galloway's side and the object of question.

It only took thirty minutes for Jenny to convince Galloway that she would control Gibbs and his team and make sure they wouldn't make any waves or cause him any more problems. Behind the National Security Advisor, Fornell and Sacks exchanged worried glances. This was not the NCIS they dealt with on a regular basis. They watched as she quickly and graciously eased their group out of her office and into the hallway, citing a previously scheduled meeting. Fornell dropped his empty cup in the waste can on his way out as he studied her. Satisfied, Galloway strode to the elevator, his aide on his heels while the two FBI agents hung back to see what would happen next.

Once the door closed behind that morning's guests, Gibbs turned to face Jenny. "When did you get an espresso machine in here?"

"I didn't," she hissed back as she picked up the phone to ask Cynthia about its appearance. When the new appliance skittered across the table, they all reacted. Gibbs pulled an ax out from under his jacket while DiNozzo quickly bashed it with a chair. When the ax made contact, the machine began sparking and screeching as it abandoned all attempts at stealth. Out in the hall, Fornell and Sacks heard the commotion and rushed back towards the office.

---NCIS---

Finally satisfied with the scanner he had built with an odd mix of human and Cybertronic technology, Tim McGee decided to start first in Abby's lab. There were many places in that crowded warren of rooms for a Decepticon or two to hide and even more pieces of equipment for them to copy. Added to that was his natural concern about his friend becoming a victim before she even knew what was going on. With any luck he could have her lab checked over and be down to examine autopsy before Abby was even in the building. As he slowly moved past the 'Major' as Abby liked to call the Mass Spectrometer, the indicator bars lit up and the audible alarm sounded. Before he could determine exactly what had set off the scanner everything on the table shifted forward.

---NCIS---

"What in the hell is going on?" Fornell stood in the doorway to the Director's private office, Sacks up against his back, and stared. He had always said that there was something off about Gibbs and his crew, but this was way beyond off.

In the office, the three paid no attention to their unwelcome observers. Gibbs and the Director were alternating their blows as they attacked what appeared to be an espresso maker, he with an ax, while she wielded a rather wicked looking collapsible baton, extended to its full length. When gaps in their rhythm allowed it, DiNozzo whacked at it with the chair. Apparently satisfied with its demise, Director Shepard rushed to her desk and dumped out the contents of one of the locking drawers. "Are they always like that when they attack?"

Gibbs and DiNozzo gathered up the scattered metal remains. Tony looked up at her voice and nodded vigorously. "It was like that yesterday, too." They shoved all the pieces into the drawer and slammed it shut. To be safe, Gibbs kept it wedged shut until Jenny twisted the key in the lock to secure it. Not until they had it all locked away did they notice their guests, staring at them dumbfounded.

---NCIS---

Abby Sciuto walked off the elevator with a smile on her face. Her long weekend at the forensics convention had been a blast and she had a whole list of new toys she just had to have. All she had to do was get Gibbs to convince the Director they were necessary. She noticed that the lights were already on in her lab. Her smile grew broader as she crossed to the door. This early in the morning, it had to be Gibbs with a welcome back caf-pow. Happily, she walked through the door only to find McGee poking at her equipment with Ziva and Palmer watching from across the room. "McGee, what are you doing to my babies?" Before he could explain himself, her 'babies' stood up and made their own displeasure known.

---NCIS---

"What did the espresso machine ever do to you?"

Usually Jennifer Shepard was quick-witted, able to respond to a situation with the right words without a second thought. At this moment, that fabled wit abandoned her as she tried to answer Fornell's question, still gasping for air. "No more caffeine, there will be no more caffeine in my office."

Sacks moved his hand so his cup was hidden behind his back while his superior took a more calming approach. He gingerly stepped closer to the wild eyed woman still clutching a baton. "Jenny," Fornell reached out with one hand. "Jenny, maybe it would be a good idea to cut back gradually instead of going cold turkey." Looking for some help, he turned to Gibbs, discarding that notion when he realized the man was still holding an ax. Behind Fornell, his trusty lieutenant was quietly edging toward the door and relative safety. His last hope was DiNozzo who immediately threw up his hands, not even trying to explain.

"I got nothing."

All five of them jumped when Cynthia's voice came over the intercom. _"Agent Gibbs, Officer David reports a gamma radiation reading in the lab. She said she needs you there right away." _

Before Fornell could ask, the three members of NCIS rushed past him, drawing their weapons as they did. He turned to follow when Sacks grabbed his arm. "They shoot radiation here?"


	6. Chapter 6

**a/n - In case you haven't figured it out yet, one of the challenges this was written for was a movie challenge where I had to drop the characters into the situation from a movie and do it NCIS style. Therefore, the guys have never seen the movie, they're living it. I hope all of you are enjoying the humor, I've tried to add in as much NCIS'ism as I could and still stay in both the situation and keep everybody IC. Since there's a lot of humor in the show, that part was pretty easy. It's ok if you've never seen the movie, after all the guys are learning as they go, too. Thanks for all the wonderful comments, I'm currently working on chapter 11 so I should be posting a chapter a day for a while yet, hopefully until I am done. Lots of action in this chapter, let me know if it works for you. Poor Sacks - that's all I'm going to say.**

Ducky met them outside Abby's lab and joined the mad dash. The lab was in full chaos when they arrived. Gibbs and DiNozzo were the first ones to rush through the door, followed by Ducky and Director Shepard. Two very confused FBI agents were only a few steps behind them. Everyone dove to the floor as an energy bolt hit the wall directly above them.

Everyone but the two FBI agents immediately scrambled back to their feet. Fornell and Sacks stared at what looked suspiciously like a mass spectrometer running across the lab, dragging McGee with it. The mass spectrometer was the source of the blast and McGee was trying to wrestle the weapon away from it. In different parts of the lab, Palmer and Officer David were individually battling smaller pieces of lab equipment in hand to robotic hand combat. Ducky rushed past the other agents, coming to Palmer's aid, and began whacking the violent microscope with a stainless steel tray. The sound shook Fornell out of his stupor and he climbed to his feet only to be immediately knocked back down by a flying table. Sacks had managed to roll away to avoid the impact and stood, pulling Fornell up with him.

By now, Gibbs was attacking the mass spectrometer with his ax, trying to get close enough to do real damage. Ziva tossed the videophone into the far corner of the lab just as it hit her with an electric charge, dropping her instantly. Both the Director and DiNozzo opened fire on it, shooting it repeatedly. The screeching from the videophone robot and the clanging of the tray hitting the microscope made it impossible to be heard as Fornell tried to yell to his NCIS counterparts. Gibbs managed to get in one good hit on the mass spectrometer before an arm unfurled against him, tossing him across the room like a rag doll.

Gibbs hit the ground, unmoving. The rampaging mass spectrometer ignored him and went back to attacking McGee, using all six of its legs to try and stomp him as he rolled and scrambled to try and escape it. McGee had managed to gain control of the weapon it had and was trying to give the robot a taste of its own medicine, but it could not be fired by human hands. A yell from DiNozzo got Sacks moving and he pulled his weapon. He tried taking aim on the machinery assaulting McGee. Fornell used the distraction to snag the unconscious Gibbs and drag him to safety. Once he had Gibbs leaning up against the wall, he joined Sacks but neither man was able to get a shot off against the rapidly attacking robot without endangering McGee.

As Ducky continued to bash the former microscope, Palmer yelled and pointed at a large bin that had been knocked to the floor. Ziva finally shook off the effects of the jolt she had received. Scrambling to her feet, she grabbed the bin and slid it across the floor to him as she ran to join DiNozzo and the Director. Jenny's clip was empty and she moved back to give the arriving woman room. Palmer used the bin like a lid over his small assailant, but that was not enough to confine it as the covered robot began to drag Palmer across the lab, slamming into walls and equipment. He lost his glasses at the first impact and just closed his eyes and hung on for the ride.

Jenny scooped up the ax that Gibbs had dropped just as Palmer was knocked off the bin. Palmer rolled to a stop and grabbed the baton Jenny had dropped to shoot the videophone. Together they finished off the microscope as it tried to slither away. Meanwhile, in the corner, DiNozzo and Ziva were both out of ammo and had resorted to stomping the remnants of the videophone that were still moving.

In one brief moment of relative silence Jenny heard the quiet ding of the elevator. Not ready to expose any more of her agents and security to what was going on, she made a rash decision. She ran for the door, tossing the ax to Fornell as she passed him. Her track experience in high school came into play as she arrived at the elevator before the doors opened. Five armed military guards stepped out with rifles at the ready. Jenny started barking orders before they had a chance to acknowledge her. "You and you, block the main stairs. Make sure no one gets past you. You two, guard the emergency stairway." She turned to the last guard and held out her hands. "You give me your rifle and go back upstairs and evacuate the building. I am issuing a Bravo Delta Seven alert. All nonessential personnel are to be out of the building now."

The squad leader raised his voice in protest. "Ma'am, if there is a terrorist threat in the building, then we need to get you out of here."

She snatched the rifle from the fifth guard. "You've got your orders, now shut down this elevator and move it." Confused and concerned, they followed their orders, the squad leader tossing an extra ammo clip to her as they moved out.

Frozen in shock, Abby stood still in the middle of the lab, her eyes wide and unblinking as she took in all the action that surrounded her. Running to keep away from the remaining robot, Ducky grasped her hand and dragged her over to Gibbs. Ducky took a linen handkerchief out of his pocket and handed to her to put pressure on the bleeding wound on Gibbs' scalp.

Fornell caught the ax as it was tossed, and charged the robot in front of him. Stepping over the fallen agent, it stopped the attack on McGee and turned towards him. Fornell tried to stop, but his dress shoes slid on the polished floor and he fell, dropping his gun but hanging onto the ax. He looked up as the mass spectrometer began to unfold its legs, suddenly doubling its height. Before he could get out of the way, one long arm reached down and picked him up, pressing him against the ceiling. Another arm brought McGee up next to him. He twisted and tried to toss the ax with enough arc to reach DiNozzo.

McGee fought to stay conscious as he saw Fornell coming to his rescue. His chest felt like it was being crushed and he couldn't take a deep breath. He watched as the attacking Decepticon grew to its full height, but what caught his attention as he was lifted was not the unfolding legs, but the large cylinder rotating out of its body. He had learned enough from Ratchet over the long night to know what it was. Adrenalin gave him the air to yell out a warning.

"Run, that's an ion cannon."

Sacks was still trying to get a bead on his target as it grew and picked up his boss along with the geek. Never had he felt so far out of his element. When he heard the words 'ion cannon' he didn't know how to respond. The robot turned and he realized that he was, in fact, staring down the barrel of that ion cannon and was about to find out exactly what it was capable of doing.

DiNozzo's diving tackle saved Sacks but meant that he missed the tossed ax and it bounced on the floor away from any of them. Over their heads the ion cannon fired, punching a hole in the wall over a foot in diameter and instantly vaporized any debris there might have been.

As the ax slid across the floor, Ziva charged after it, followed by Ducky and Palmer, who was still missing his glasses. The energy backwash from the ion cannon firing knocked all three of them to the ground. They were almost back on their feet when the floor beneath them shifted and buckled. Jenny managed to get two rounds fired into the body of the robotic mass spectrometer before she was also knocked down.

Gibbs woke to the sound of the blast. He tried to struggle to his feet but Abby would not let go. He peeled her off his arm as he watched Ziva fall back to the ground, but was unable to stand as the floor rumbled and shook.

A large metal hand rose up through the broken concrete that was once the pristine floor of Abby's lab, followed by the rest of Ratchet's form. Quickly assessing the situation, he reached out and wrapped his hands around the remaining Decepticon, crushing it within moments. Both Fornell and McGee fell to the floor with a thud in the sudden silence.

Sacks felt himself begin to hyperventilate, but couldn't stop himself. "It… they… you…" As he stammered, he was slapped on the back by DiNozzo as the other man pulled himself upright.

"I was there yesterday. Don't worry, you get used to it."

"Used to it? I don't want to get used to it. What the hell, you people are all crazy." Sacks crawled over to the wall and used it to lever himself up, watching Fornell sit up and shake his head. McGee stayed flat on the floor while he caught his breath, as did most of the rest of his team. Fornell looked over at his junior agent who was now not looking at him, but over Fornell's head with a totally stunned expression. Knowing he was going to regret it, Fornell looked over his shoulder to see what had shut Sacks up.

"Oh, crap."

Gibbs finally got Abby to release him and moved forward to check on his team as they slowly began shifting around. He could see that everyone had an assortment of minor cuts and bruises but they were all moving around under their own power. Even McGee was trying to stand up, much to Ducky's consternation but that was an easy fix. "McGee, stay put until Ducky says you can get up."

Next to McGee, Fornell continued to stare while Abby walked up to Ratchet, fascinated. She looked around at the devastation that once was her lab and then looked again at the robot that was standing there, his head and upper body poking through the hole he had punched through the reinforced concrete that was the floor. He tilted his head in her direction.

"You must be Abby. McGee has told me much about you." His metal face was not designed to even approximate a human smile, but the way the light reflected off him gave the illusion of amusement.

Abby smiled at him in wonder before turning to face the rest of the team. "Guys, remember when I said don't call me at the convention unless it's something really, really important? Well, this would have qualified." By now, Ducky had allowed McGee to stand and Abby started to pepper him with questions as Ducky walked him to one of the surviving stools in the lab.

Gibbs had to smile. Abby was too busy being intrigued by the science of the robots to dwell on the destruction. His next concern was Fornell. Bringing in the FBI had not been on his to-do list and he wasn't one hundred percent sure how the other man was going to respond to the events in the lab, let alone his agent. Gibbs walked over and dropped down onto one knee behind Fornell and waited. Fornell leaned back slightly to address him.

"That's a good robot, right?"

"Yep, he's an Autobot."

"And the other three, they were bad robots?"

"Yep, Decepticons."

"Any other surprises you want to throw my way?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Gibbs slapped him on the shoulder and hauled him to his feet with a smirk before circling around to check on the rest of his people.

"Gibbs? GIBBS?" Realizing he was not going to get an answer any time soon, Fornell moved over to Sacks who had given up on being upright and had slid back down the wall to sit on the floor. Deciding it looked like a pretty good idea, Fornell joined him.

Sacks glared at his boss. "Just so that you know, the next time you decide we're going to tag along with somebody just cause they're going to NCIS, I'm gonna shoot your sorry ass."

Ratchet leaned their direction as far as he could without doing more damage to the building. Sacks swallowed hard at finding himself the focus of his attention as the smooth voice carried throughout the basement level. "Gibbs respects the one called Fornell. You, he's not so sure about."

---NCIS---

Even though her hands were still shaking, Jenny tossed the rifle to DiNozzo and took command of the situation. "Ducky, Palmer, check our status, who's injured?

Ducky had already made the rounds. "Mostly minor injuries, Director. Agent Gibbs probably has a mild concussion that should be watched and Agent McGee is a bit more battered than I'd like to see. The body can only take so many electrical shocks before it must rest and I'm afraid Timothy is at that point. I must insist that he rest for at least a few hours where I can watch him.

Satisfied they were still mobile, Director Shepard continued with the orders. "McGee, you are with Ducky until he gives you the all clear. Abby, you stay with him and he will bring you up to speed on what's going on. Ratchet, are you capable of examining the building to make sure it is still structurally sound?"

He sounded offended as he assured the Director that his on-board systems were more than capable of the task.

Jenny wasn't too worried about upsetting a robot that just tore a five foot diameter hole in the floor of headquarters. "As soon as you are done with that, turn back into the van and get yourself parked someplace before company arrives." She turned to the rest of the MCRT members. "DiNozzo and David, find something to hold the remains of the destroyed Decepticons. Jethro, you and I will deal with security. We've got about thirty seconds to come up with a reasonable explanation. Any suggestions?"

He tapped the side of his head. "Concussion, remember? I'll leave the thinking up to you." He quickly received a reminder of how well Jenny Shepard could swear in Russian. Ratchet interrupted her rant.

"It may be time to contact Admiral Morshower and bring in the N.E.S.T. team."

Jenny stared at him, hands on her hips. "The Nuclear Emergency Support Team, are we dealing with that level of radiation?"

"No, Director Shepard, the Nonbiological Extraterrestrial Species Team based in Diego Garcia." If he were human he would have been cringing under her glare.

"Couldn't you have told me this last night?"

Behind her, Fornell sputtered at Gibbs. "You knew about this last night?" He shook his head as he made the connection. "The espresso machine was one of those Decepticons."

Sacks tugged on his sleeve. "How'd you know?" It was Gibbs that answered with a snort.

"Well, besides seeing it walk across the table…"

Exasperated with a robot that seemed to have as selective of a memory as her favorite senior agent, Jenny Shepard turned to the two FBI agents still sitting on the floor. "Do you two have any input on this?"

Sacks shook his head, still staring at Ratchet, while Fornell gave a crooked smile. "Only that I'm pretty sure there's not enough bourbon in your office to cover this one."

Jenny gave a very unladylike snort. "Tell me something I don't already know."


	7. Chapter 7

"You're supposed to be resting." Abby divided her attention between the tests she was running for Balboa's team and the restless McGee wandering around the temporary lab she had set up near autopsy.

McGee slumped down on a stool and started playing with the computer mouse. "After everything that's happened this morning, could you take a nap right now?"

"Well, no," Abby stopped what she was doing and came over to stand next to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "But you really got slammed pretty good this morning, and Tony said that yesterday was even worse. Plus you were up all night building that scanner. You've got to rest now while you can, because I don't think this is over yet." She started to rub his neck, knowing how much it always relaxed him.

His head hung down under her careful ministration as he admitted the problem. "I know, Abby, I just can't turn my brain off is all. I've got so many ideas and questions I need to research and now I'm trapped here with no way to get the information I need."

"Did you try running a search?" As soon as she asked, Abby knew it was a silly question. McGee could find information on the computer that no one else could. Tim was too much of a gentleman to remind her, though.

"Yeah, the information online is not detailed enough for what I need. What I need are the books." He picked up a handwritten list. "These will just barely scratch the surface, but the rate things are going, it'll be days before Gibbs and Ducky let me out of here to go to a bookstore."

Abby took the list from him. "I'll make you a deal; you rest, I mean really rest, for a few hours and I'll talk Gibbs into sending someone out to get these books for you. Is that a deal?"

Between the persuasion and the exhaustion, Tim found himself agreeing and quickly tucked in a blanket on the futon Abby had retrieved from her office. Once she was sure he was deeply asleep, she headed upstairs with the list.

---NCIS---

Up in MTAC, Jenny Shepard glared at the split image on the large screen. She had hoped to speak with Admiral Morshower, without Galloway getting involved but today was certainly not her day. There was something about the man that set her teeth on edge. Even Ratchet seemed to not trust him. Galloway interrupted every attempt she made to get information with questions of his own. She kept her answers vague and generic to protect her people. "Director Galloway, Admiral Morshower, we are operating blind here. Every attempt to gather info has been stalled by somebody. All I can tell you at the moment is that the Autobots seem to feel they need to protect this agency and our people. Until somebody convinces me otherwise, I am going to have to trust their judgment on the matter."

The Admiral seemed pleased with her stance, while Galloway was livid. "Why didn't you tell me any of this when I was at you office this morning? What game are you playing, Ms Shepard?"

"It's Director Shepard, and we weren't attacked by Decepticons until after you left the building. Perhaps I should be asking you how they managed to get into both my private office and our lab while you were here."

Morshower leaned into the camera on his desk, making his image zoom in to MTAC. "How many Decepticons? Was it an organized attack?"

Jenny debated how much to tell them. "Four so far. The one in my office attacked as soon as Director Galloway and his party left and the others attacked as soon as they were detected."

"Detected, how?"

"Don't discount my agency and my people, Director Galloway, they may surprise you. Now, whatever is going on, my people are obviously right in the middle of it. So, I am going to ask one more time – what is going on?"

Galloway's protests were shot down by the Admiral. "No, they have a right to know. I will make sure you are given the authorization to read the complete files, but for now the most important thing is that there was a recent large scale attack by Decepticons in Shanghai. One of the Decepticons leading the attack was destroyed, but he had a message for us."

Jenny glanced over her shoulder at Gibbs and Fornell. Their expressions told her what she already knew; this was going to be bad. "What was the message, Admiral?"

He played the recording, explaining that it was made by one of the Autobots at the scene. "The Fallen….. shall rise….. again."

"What does that mean, sir?"

Morshower had a sour look on his face. "We were hoping you could figure that out for us, Director Shepard."

---NCIS---

After depositing the pieces of the attacking lab equipment in locked evidence boxes, DiNozzo was grateful to return to the relative safety of his desk. Safe may have become a relative term, but after spending twenty minutes poking at his office supplies he was reasonably sure they were just that – office supplies. Across from him, Ziva rolled her eyes.

"I do not think your stapler is a Decepticon, Tony." Despite her bravado, she had spent almost as much time as her partner had poking the items that littered her desk.

"Yeah well, between McGee's phone with the apps from hell and the killer caffeine jolt from the espresso machine in Director Shepard's office, excuse me for being cautious." He sat up straight and looked past Ziva as a visitor walked into the bullpen. He recognized her as the beautiful blonde assistant that arrived earlier with Galloway. She smiled at his response and walked directly up to him as he stood.

"Agent DiNozzo, it's so good to see you again, do you remember me, I'm Alice?" She held her hand out for him to take.

"Of course I remember you Alice, and please, call me Tony." He gave her his most winning smile, ignoring the eye roll from Ziva who stood behind them. Ziva, however, would not be ignored.

"Excuse me, Alice, but how did you get in here? The building is still under a Bravo Delta Seven alert, all nonessential personnel has been evacuated." She crossed her arms and waited for a response.

"Director Galloway sent me." She dismissed Ziva and turned back to Tony. Her eyes watered as she bit down on her trembling lip. "He's my boss, but it's kinda scary here right now."

DiNozzo's never missed an opportunity to help a beautiful woman as he reached out and wrapped an arm around her. Don't you worry, stay close to me and I'll make sure nothing happens to you."

---NCIS---

Abby was waiting in the hallway when they exited MTAC. Jenny interrupted before she could say a word to Gibbs. "What's our status downstairs?"

"I've got a basic lab set up in a storage room right off of autopsy." She saw the concern on Gibbs' face and rushed to reassure him. "Don't worry, McGee scanned all the equipment before we moved it in. He also helped Ratchet and temporary repairs have been made so that the building is safe for us to keep working in."

Gibbs was only slightly relieved by her words. "I thought McGee was supposed to be resting?"

"He can't, that what I came to tell you, Gibbs." Abby's voice sped up and her pigtails bobbed as she spoke. "He says that he's got too much in his head to rest, too many questions."

Jenny tried to calm her. "I think we all have a lot of questions right now, Abby. I wouldn't worry too much about that." Abby shook her head and held the list up for them to read it.

"These are the books he wants for his research. He said this would just scratch the surface."

Gibbs whistled as he looked over the list and even Jenny was stunned as Abby continued. "The only way that I could get him to rest at all was to promise that someone would go get the books for him, the only way."

"I'm sorry," Jenny started to apologize. "We've evacuated almost everyone. I can't spare someone right now to go shopping, no matter how much he needs them."

"I can." They all turned and stared at Fornell. He just plucked the paper out of Abby's grasp. "I'm sure Agent Sacks won't mind getting away from the Yard for a few hours."

---NCIS---

Shepard, Gibbs and Fornell had just stepped into her office before an emergency call came in, sending them back to MTAC. This time, Admiral Morshower's was the only image on the screen and he wasted no time. "Do you know what the Allspark was?"

The FBI agent looked on blankly as the other two nodded. Morshower looked only slightly relieved as he continued. "The last remaining piece of the Allspark has been protected in a vault on the base at Diego Garcia. I just received word that it was stolen in a raid by Decepticon forces."

"What can just a piece of the Allspark do, sir?" Gibbs thought about that other piece still in McGee's possession. Ratchet had been adamant that the jar remain with the young agent.

"In the wrong hands, it could have devastating consequences." Morshower paused, studying them, before continuing. "I've been checking on you and your people, Director Shepard, and I like what I see. This is probably going to get a lot worse before it gets better and I don't think you should trust Director Galloway. He may have his own agenda."

"Understood." Jenny glanced back at Gibbs before continuing. "If another fragment of the Allspark were to be discovered, would the Decepticons go after that one as well?"

Morshower had heard the rumors and knew immediately what she was not saying. He carefully crafted his answer to reassure her without saying what he really needed to say. "They would tear this planet apart to find any surviving splinter of the Allspark. Anyone who could possibly have it would be in a great deal of danger. As soon as the situation on Diego Garcia is resolved, I'll send some friends to stay with you for a while, if that's all right. They can help with the," his pause was deliberate, "repairs you need. Until they arrive, try to keep your heads down."

"Thank you, Admiral." Jenny stood there even after the screen went blank, while Gibbs and Fornell stood there behind her. Fornell groaned. "Let me guess where that possible other fragment is, right?" He glared at Gibbs, blaming him for everything that had happened so far. "Is it ever easy with you people?"

Gibbs wasn't planning on giving him an answer, but Ziva's arrival meant he didn't even have to pretend.

"We may have a problem."

"Now what?" Jenny's question came before Gibbs could open his mouth.

"Galloway's aide is back. She's attached herself to Tony. She says that she is very scared to be here, but Galloway ordered her here. I do not trust her or her boss."

"Neither do I." The two women shared a look before she continued. "Stay close to them, Ziva. Let's see what exactly she's up to. Agent Fornell?" He jumped slightly as she addressed him. "See what you can find out about Galloway and what he's really up to. He's blocked our access, but maybe you can find something." She gave him that smile that was hard to say no to, but truthfully he couldn't walk away after his experience in the lab.


	8. Chapter 8

**a/n - I kept the same location names for places in the movie if at all possible. The one in today's chapter is very funny when combined with NCIS, as you will see. Thanks for reading and commenting.**

"Director? Director Shepard?" The hissed words caught her attention before they could leave the hall outside of MTAC.

She glanced at Gibbs, Fornell and Ziva briefly before turning to her assistant. "What's wrong, Cynthia?"

"Your desk, it's bouncing."

"Bouncing?"

"Yes, ma'am. I just thought, well…"

Jenny took pity on the other woman. "It's all right, Cynthia, we'll take care of it. Why didn't you evacuate with the others?"

"You're still here, Director." The loyal woman smiled as if her statement explained it all as she turned and walked back to her office.

"How many times do you have to kill one of those suckers for them to stay dead?"

"Don't ask us, that was the first one we killed." Gibbs' retort to Fornell's question gave Ziva an idea.

"We should keep it alive." The two men stared at her blankly, but Jenny knew where she was going.

"A prisoner to interrogate? Well, since it's your idea, you get to figure out how to make it talk, Ziva. How do you propose we control it?"

Apparently, Ziva had already put together a plan. "Give me fifteen minutes." She rushed down the stairs before any of them could question her. Jenny, Gibbs and Fornell walked back to her office, the two men sitting on the desk to hold it down while they waited.

"So, Tobias, how's your week been so far?" Gibbs kicked the drawer with the back of his heel to let the occupant know they were there.

Fornell laughed. "Well, it was pretty boring until I got here. Hey, I did get the deck built over the weekend. Gonna stain it next weekend; you want to come over and give me a hand with it? Throw some steaks on the grill while we're at it."

"If we finish saving the world in time, it sounds good. Oil or water based stain?"

"Haven't decided yet, what do you suggest?"

Jenny picked up some paperwork and settled in one of the overstuffed chairs to review it, letting the conversation wash over her. When Ziva arrived with Abby in tow, she dropped the papers and joined them, allowing the men to remain in control of the desk.

The three women approached the desk. Abby was holding a blow-torch, while Ziva handed the metal box to Jenny and kept the long tongs for herself. When the men had their legs out of the way and guns at the ready, Jenny unlocked the drawer. As soon as a metal head poked out of the drawer, Ziva grabbed it with the tongs. Abby fired up the torch and brought the flame within an inch of their captive.

Ziva lifted it up and studied it close. "Alright, you belong to us now. If you want to stay alive, I suggest you remember that." Tiny optical lenses rotated to scan the three of them, while behind the tiny robot; the two male agents looked on, amused.

"Captured by warrior women, Java is." The high pitched voice was squeaky and unnatural.

Abby waved the torch flame even closer. "Don't you forget it either, pipsqueak." She didn't shut down the blowtorch until Java was safely locked in the secured metal box. After they left to stow the box until they were ready to interrogate the robot the two remaining agents exchanged a look and Fornell silently promised himself to never underestimate the women of NCIS.

---NCIS---

"It must have been so scary when Staff Sergeant Shaffer attacked you. I don't know how you put up with all this danger every day." Alice rested her cheek on DiNozzo's shoulder as she clung to his arm. "You're so brave, Tony."

He patted her hand where it rested on his arm. "I'm a trained federal agent; we're trained to face danger like that every day. It's our job."

Above them, on the walkway, Ziva rolled her eyes as she and Abby walked past with a large metal box. Jenny Shepard was only a step behind and quickly caught up. "That blonde is definitely up to something, Ziva. Stay here and keep an eye on them." The two women changed places and Ziva remained behind while Jenny accompanied Abby to the evidence lock-up to secure their prisoner. By the time they returned, Alice had convinced DiNozzo to take her out of the building for lunch with Ziva following silently behind.

---NCIS---

Jeffery Sacks pulled the agency sedan into the visitor's parking lot and shut off the engine, resting his forehead on the steering wheel as he did. Part of him wanted to run screaming back to the J. Edgar Hoover Building while part of him was jealous as hell. Every weekend he called and talked to his grandfather in the retirement home. Former Seaman First Class Aaron Jeffery Sacks had spent six years in the Navy, using the education benefits to give his family a better life and never let his grandkids forget the family's debt to the Navy. He had been proud of the grandson who became a federal agent, but Grandpa Aaron never let an opportunity go by to mention how much more exciting of a career Jeff would have had as a NCIS agent. The younger Sacks thumped his head against the wheel when he realized that, damn it all, this weekend he would have to tell the old man he was right. He groaned as he gathered up the bags of books he had been sent to collect. That phone call to Grandpa would depend on all of them surviving the week.

The guard at the door took one look at his burden and made a phone call. By the time Sacks was in the door, there was a cart for him to pile the books on. He wheeled it into the temporary lab and handed Abby the receipt. "I am going to get reimbursed for these, right?"

"Oh, yeah, I'll give this to Gibbs. I'm sure he'll get right on it."

Not reassured by her promise, Sacks was distracted by McGee's arrival. He looked pale, which made the scattered bruises even more noticeable. A muttered thanks told Sacks that the other man was at least somewhat aware of his presence as he picked up the top book in the stack. Sacks and Abby watched at Tim flipped through the book as fast as he could turn the pages. He set it down and started on the next book.

"Is he looking for something in particular?" Sacks leaned to the side and whispered to Abby, but McGee was now totally oblivious to their presence.

She shook her head. "I don't think so, but I'm not sure." As she continued to watch, her worry increased as McGee's speed increased. Not taking her eyes off him, Abby reached out for her phone and hit the speed dial for Gibbs.

---NCIS---

For the third time that day, Jenny found herself in MTAC, flanked by Gibbs and Fornell, conferencing with Admiral Morshower. This time he looked more anxious than he had in either of the two previous meetings. He wasted no time.

"Director Shepard, we've just received word that the sub guarding the Deep Six drop point has called general quarters."

She still had not received the promised briefing materials. "Deep Six, sir?"

He looked pained as he explained. "Project Deep Six was the safe removal and storage of the remains of the Decepticons destroyed at Mission City. After the battle, they were stored temporarily at the Marine base until the permanent holding site could be readied. The drop point is the bottom of the Laurential Abyssal."

"What triggered the alarm?" Jenny had her suspicions, but hoped she was wrong.

Instead of answering, Morshower turned to speak to someone off camera. While she waited, Jenny exchanged worried glances with Gibbs. No part of this had been good, but whatever was worth interrupting this conference had to be extremely bad. Finally, he turned back to them. "The sub patrolling the drop point has reported a hard contact."

"How hard?"

"Hard enough to damage the hull." Morshower rubbed his forehead. "We suspect the remaining Decepticons may have used the stolen shard of the Allspark to resurrect their leader. We have more ships on the way to intercept."

Jenny was furious with the military's lack of foresight. "You're telling us that only one submarine was guarding the leader of the Decepticons?"

Morshower tried to defend the strategy. "It's ninety-three hundred feet deep, beyond any human's ability to reach."

"Unfortunately, we're not dealing with humans, are we Admiral?" Gibbs' dry question would be considered insubordination under normal circumstances, but as Fornell so often reminded him, NCIS and normal were rarely acquainted. Anything else he might have added was stalled when his phone buzzed at his waist and he moved out of camera range to answer it.

"Gibbs."

"You gotta get down here, Gibbs, right now."

Some days he wished he'd stayed in Mexico. "What is it, Abby?"

"It's McGee, he's acting all hinky." She hung up before he could ask anything else.

---NCIS---

Ziva looked at the text message on her phone, grateful she had managed to coax DiNozzo into accepting a new phone earlier in the day. _'Are you still close?' _told her he was not as enamored with the blonde aide as he let on. She sent a message back in the affirmative as she sat in her car outside the diner. Through the window she could see him holding Alice's hand tightly to keep it still as the woman tried repeatedly to worm her way onto his lap. If Ziva wasn't so worried about Galloway and his questionable agenda it would have been an entertaining view.

---NCIS---

Gibbs arrived downstairs in time to watch McGee speed read through the last twelve hundred page text in less than a minute, the turning pages an absolute blur. The young agent stumbled as he dropped the book onto the pile on the floor. Sacks was close enough to steady him, and Gibbs relaxed slightly as McGee shook off the assistance of the FBI agent.

He pointed at the stack of books. "You've read all of those?" His face showed pure disbelief as McGee picked up a book and handed to him.

"Test me."

Sharing a look with both Sacks and Abby, Gibbs opened the book to a random page. "Tell me about chapter eighteen."

"Chapter eighteen starts on page seven hundred and thirty-two." He proceeded to recite the chapter word for word. Abby and Sacks both picked up books and joined in quizzing him, but nothing tripped him up. Gibbs held up a hand, stopping the session when McGee's nose began to bleed. He grasped Tim's arm and escorted him into autopsy with Abby and Sacks trailing behind. Abby explained to Ducky while Gibbs sat him on one of the tables and forced McGee to keep his head tilted back. As soon as Ducky understood the situation, he moved in to treat McGee and Gibbs moved out of the way.

Once the bleeding was stopped, Ducky forced McGee to lie down on the table and motioned Abby over to keep him company. Behind them, Jenny and Fornell entered quietly. He stepped over to where Gibbs and Sacks were waiting as the two newcomers joined them. "Without a MRI, I can't give a definite diagnosis, but considering what I found in Shaffer's autopsy, this is very worrisome."

Gibbs would have preferred to lose the FBI before now, but this was turning into something bigger than both of their agencies and reluctantly spent the time giving Fornell and Sacks a brief review of the events the day before.

Once they were brought up to speed, Ducky explained his findings. "I discovered lesions all throughout Staff Sergeant Shaffer's brain. If his symptoms were a result of being in close proximity to the artifact that Timothy has touched, then I'm afraid that our young friend is in serious trouble indeed."

"Is he running a fever?" Gibbs looked over at his agent as he fought back his worry. He wasn't going to lose the man to a chunk of alien rock, not if he had anything to say about it.

"No, not yet." Ducky had to concede that point to Gibbs. If he were, I'd have no choice but to hospitalize him. I'd prefer him to be in the hospital, but I won't argue the point yet." He had more to say on the subject, but his attention was diverted to McGee as he stood, much to Abby's displeasure.

As the rest of the living occupants of autopsy watched, McGee plucked a sharpie pen out of Abby's lab coat pocket and began writing on the stainless steel walls. Gibbs was alarmed as he recognized the symbol Shaffer had drawn repeatedly, but McGee only wrote it once before moving on to dozens more. Mathematical equations even Abby could only guess at filled the spaces between the symbols as McGee filled the walls.

At first McGee's writing was slow and unsure, but he picked up speed as he began to speak. "Einstein was right, but only in this dimension, not the others. Don't you see?" He looked at the others, expecting them to understand but they only looked at him blankly as he continued on. "If you take Energon and break it down to its elemental components while assuming a constant rate of decay and extrapolate for all of the fourteen galactic convergences … echo on its signal… formula for interdimensional energy…"

Even without his voice fading in and out, his audience was completely overwhelmed by the information McGee was throwing out at them. Abby looked like she was going to start questioned him, but the arrival of Cynthia stopped her. Director Shepard's assistant entered autopsy at a dead run.

"We need you back in MTAC, ma'am. They're tracking Decepticon movement. Some from Deep Six, some from other directions."

For a fleeting second, Jenny thought the day couldn't get any worse. "Where are they headed?"

Cynthia looked frightened for the first time that Jenny had known her. "The Eastern United States, the coastline will be hit first."

"Can they narrow it down more than that?"

Fornell's question seemed to help her focus. "They suspect DC. All the military is being moved in to protect the White House and the Capitol."

Everyone was silent for a moment before Gibbs stated what they all knew. "We're the ones on their radar and we're on our own."

Jenny was already formulating and dismissing plans to protect her people. "How long do we have?" Cynthia shook her head.

"Minutes. They've already taken out cell phone transmissions."


	9. Chapter 9

**a/n - Did you find it as funny as I did that the name of the spot Megatron was dumped was the same code name as McGee's book? When I saw that in the movie transcript, I had to leave it in.**

Gibbs' words were short and sweet over the earwig she wore as backup. "You and DiNozzo get back here now." Communications were dead before she could take a breath. Concerned, she exited the vehicle, looking for her partner who had suddenly disappeared from the restaurant.

Lunch over, Alice dragged Tony back to the car. "Why don't you give me a tour of the Navy Yard? I bet there are so many private places you love to take the ladies to. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ziva moving towards them, a determined look on her face. He quickly tried to untangle himself from the single-minded young lady before she spotted Ziva.

"Sorry, Alice, I've really got to go now. It's been fun, but…" As he talked, he tried to lift her hand off his thigh but suddenly she had an iron grip on him. "Wow, you must work out a lot." He started to panic when her grip on his leg became crushingly painful.

Ziva saw the struggle and started running towards them. Alice punched her in the face as she reached the car. Before Ziva could figure out how the petite woman managed to make contact from over five feet away, Alice was back over Tony again as he tried to get out of the car. He managed to get the door open and to fall half way out before she was on top of him, trying to roll him onto his back. Kicking and flailing, he managed to squirm out from under her and out of the car. By now Ziva had reached him and distracted Alice with a hook kick. It only bought DiNozzo a few seconds but it was enough to get him onto his feet. They both started running to Ziva's car. The two agents only made it about fifteen feet before something whipped around DiNozzo's neck, yanking him backwards and choking him. As he stumbled backwards, turning towards his attacker, he discovered the thick metal cable around his neck was, in fact, her tongue.

Transfixed, he could only try to wedge his fingers in between his skin and the metal coil as he stared at the not quite so human woman trying to kill him. Quickly he realized that her intent was to capture, not kill as she began to reel him in rather than crush his throat. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ziva pull her weapon and he turned his head as much as he could, not knowing what to expect.

At only a few feet away, there was no possibility of missing and all three shots hit their target. Alice's head snapped back as the multiple projectiles tore through it. Severed, her tongue-tentacle loosened from Tony's neck and he yanked it off the second he felt the pressure ease. They both watched in horror as the body did not tumble to the ground, and slowly started to straighten up. Backing away, they watched the holes in her face spark and then close as the artificial skin regenerated. Ziva ran for Tony's car, which was closer as the witnesses attracted by the gunfire scattered in terror. She had the car started and in reverse before DiNozzo was completely inside. Scrambling for both the door and the seatbelt, he saw what she was about to do as she threw the gearshift into low and floored it.

"Why my car?"

"Because mine is not heavy enough."

"To do what?" Even as he asked, he was bracing himself. Alice's head was now mostly intact, but at an odd angle to the rest of her body. She began running towards them as their car accelerated. The hood buckled as they impacted, Alice holding onto the car. Ziva swerved and tried to knock the android loose as they barreled down the road towards headquarters, but she was climbing further up the car, toward the windshield. Just before a claw like hand punched through the glass, Ziva slammed on the brakes, forcing Alice to slide part way down the hood of the car before she could regain her grip. Accelerating again, Ziva yanked hard on the steering wheel and drove the car into a light post, crushing Alice. Both airbags in the car deployed in the impact. By the time they deflated, Ziva was trying to start the stalled car. The engine caught on the third attempt, but sounded rough and steam was venting from the cracked radiator.

The top half of the blonde android was still clinging to the car as they backed away from the light post, leaving the still sparking and twitching lower half sprawled on the ground, along with the bumper of the car. Part of DiNozzo wanted to joke about Decepticons and bumpers, but he was too busy trying to catch his breath. Alice looked up at them, the artificial skin was torn completely off the left side of her face and neck and the eye on that side was hanging by its wiring. Her movements were jerky as she slowly climbed closer to them, punching holes in the sheet metal for hand grips. DiNozzo pulled out his SIG Sauer and started firing, aiming at her neck. She was less than a foot away from the cracked windshield and the sixth shot destroyed enough of her neck that it was not able to support her head. Ziva shifted back into drive and the sudden change in direction was enough to snap the android's head off and it rolled off the hood and under the wheel of the car. There was a thud as they ran over it without slowing down.

"Okay, that was only slightly disturbing." Gasping for air and clutching his weapon, Tony stared out the hole he had blown through the front window of his car. The remaining half torso and arms that were left of the female android were still attached to the car. Behind the steering wheel, Ziva was as panicked as he'd ever seen her, looking over at him with wide eyes.

"The next time…" she paused, forcing herself to calm down. "The next time my father tells me I am wasting my skills staying at NCIS, that nothing challenging ever happens here, I think I will shoot him myself."

Tony nodded, still watching the torso as it twitched, not knowing if it was from the motion of the car or if it was still alive, "I'll even let you use my gun."

They had barely made it out of the parking lot before the car stuttered and died. She let it coast to the curb before climbing out and slamming the door shut. A little slower, Tony exited from the passenger side, still staring at the partial android body. For a moment he wondered if they should call for Ducky or if one of the mechanics from the motor pool would be better suited for the autopsy. Frustrated by the terror she had felt earlier, Ziva took it out on the remains, grabbing them and tossing them with a yell into the river. It sent up a shower of sparks when it hit the water, and then exploded, sending up a geyser of water.

Both now drenched, Tony started laughing first before Ziva joined in. Their laughter was tinged with hysteria until a realization brought Ziva up short. "Tony, why are we not drawing attention? We just fought an alien android to the death in the middle of the Navy Yard, where are all the spectators, where are the MP's?"

Looking around, he realized she was right; no one was paying attention to them, their focus was elsewhere. He turned to look at what was more interesting than a big breasted blonde alien android. "Oh my God, Ziva, we've got bigger problems."


	10. Chapter 10

Jennifer Shepard took the stairs two at a time, heading back to MTAC, the rest of them only a few steps behind. Inside MTAC was controlled chaos as the technicians monitored the incoming attack. "Talk to me, what have we got?" Jenny caught the headset that was tossed to her and put it on as she started barking orders. "Call the main gates, have them sound the alarms and evacuate everyone they can from the yard."

One of the technicians yelled over his shoulder as he was relaying the information to the gate staff. "The SecNav online for you, ma'am."

"On the screen, and get me Morshower. NOW!" It was the first time they had truly heard the woman scream at them, and they scrambled to comply. The SecNav's face came up on the screen, but it was distorted and full of static.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, that's as good as we can get with the interference."

She nodded, but didn't comment as she turned her full attention to pleading for the safety of her people. "Sir, we're the target of the incoming attack, we need immediate assistance. We don't have the weaponry necessary to defend ourselves."

The interference caused the SecNav's voice to waver in and out of pitch, giving him an odd timbre. "I'm sorry, Director Shepard. Even if we knew for sure that you are correct, we still have to focus our attention to protecting the President and the other..."

Frustrated, she interrupted. "You don't understand, sir. We've been fighting them for two days. A Decepticon attacked one of my teams out in the field yesterday, and four of them infiltrated the Navy Yard and attacked us here at Headquarters this morning."

"What? Why?"

A new figure joined him on the screen with the answer. "Because we missed a piece in the debris and now they are the only thing between it and the Decepticons." Morshower turned his attention to Shepard. "You've got to protect it all costs. Megatron and his followers will stop at nothing to get control of that artifact. As of now, that is your only mandate, do whatever it takes to protect it. Our friends are on their way, along with trained soldiers, but the Decepticons will reach you first."

To punctuate the point, the frightened woman monitoring the radar called out. "First wave of incoming targets is onscreen. ETA two minutes."

Jennifer turned to Gibbs. "Take your team and get out of here. We'll hold them off as long as we can. Abby and Ducky, you both go with them"

"Director, no, we can't leave you here." Gibbs looked to the figures on the screen for support. "We need to stick together." Behind him, McGee and the rest of them were nodding in agreement; even Sacks who was turning an unhealthy shade of grey at the thought of facing anything remotely like what had been in the lab. Only Abby wasn't fully in agreement as she reminded them of a major fact.

"Tim's a target too. That thing transferred alien knowledge into him."

"Do it Jethro, that's a direct order." The staring match only lasted a few seconds because deep down he knew she was right. Protecting that artifact and the knowledge it apparently contained was for the greater good. He grabbed McGee's arm as he headed for the door, the rest of them falling in behind.

"DiNozzo and David are out in the Yard somewhere. We've lost contact with them."

Jenny yelled back at him, "try and meet up with them in the Yard. Otherwise, they'll have to catch up with you later, now go."

Gibbs, McGee, Ducky and Abby with the two FBI agents in tow only made it half way down the stairs when the first blast hit the building. The skylight shattered as they dropped, covering their heads. Screams from the squad room brought Gibbs back to his feet. Smoke was filling the room, limiting visibility as he felt more than saw Ducky stumble past him, down the rest of the steps. At the bottom of the stairs was a young woman from the legal department, a stack of file folders scattered and blood splattered on the ground next to her. Ducky gave her a passing glance as he stepped over her to move on to the next victim. Gibbs saw immediately why the doctor did not stop to help her, as a large piece of glass had made her death instantaneous.

"Get McGee and Abby down to the garage now." Gibbs made sure Fornell heard him before he followed Ducky into the smoky haze. Behind him he heard McGee protesting.

"We can't just run away, there's got to be some way to stop them."

"Yeah, by getting you the hell away from here. It's you they're after, so come on." Sacks played the guilt card well, to devastating results as McGee paled and staggered at the implication. Fornell cursed under his breath at his agent as he and Abby grabbed McGee and tugged him towards the exit. They made it almost to the back stairs before being blown back by another blast. This one, unlike the first, seemed to come from inside the squad room itself. As the dust settled, they were looking up at a tall robot, standing in the middle of the room. McGee pushed Abby behind him as he recognized the Decepticon symbol on its chest. Fornell saw his actions and assumed correctly he was again facing a bad robot, instinctively pulling his woefully inadequate weapon to protect his charges.

The loud laugh reverberated throughout the building and froze the survivors scrambling to escape. "You humans think you can stop Megatron? You will beg for your deaths before I am done with you. Insects, all of you are no more than insects to the power of the Decepticons." To prove his point, he reached out and flicked Jenny off the mezzanine balcony. Even in the chaos, the sound of bone snapping could be heard when she bounced off an overturned desk before hitting the floor.

"Director!" Cynthia's scream got them moving again and they watched in horror as Megatron swatted the screaming woman, flinging her against the far wall. A blood smear marked her path as she slid limply to the floor. By now, Jenny was vainly trying to push herself upright, one arm held tightly against her chest. One of the agents nearest to her helped her move backwards, trying to gain distance between the agency's director and the attacking alien robot none of them knew how to respond to.

Three more metallic figures could be seen, their flight paths putting them on a collision course with the smoldering building. Those who were still mobile instinctively moved back against the relative safety of the walls. The three landed, flanking the larger robot. The smallest of the three had a spider-like appearance and bowed to Megatron as the other two crouched down, prepared to defend him. The humans that had been in MTAC hoped that their behavior meant help was on the way.

"Give me the human. Give me the human who has touched the Allspark and I will let the rest of you live." To prove his intentions, Megatron punched his fist down through the floor, opening a hole into the ceiling of the lower floor. As the agents on that level attempted to flee, he reached down and grabbed one of the men. Gibbs vaguely recognized him as one of the recent transfers from the Hawaii office. The man struggled, attempting to escape before Megatron flexed his fingers. It was over in an instant and Megatron tossed the body aside. He reached down again, but there were no survivors within his reach. He blasted down through another two levels of concrete and steel with his ion cannon and met an old foe. "Hello, Ratchet."

The Autobot was helpless to defend himself. The energy blasts that rocked the building moments earlier had buckled the temporary supports he had installed after the first attack and the only thing holding the main joists of the building together was Ratchet himself. He had wedged himself into place alongside the elevator shaft, supporting the twisted metal, while one leg was pressed against the outer wall that threatened to buckle inward. If he moved at all, the combined weight of the building and the Decepticons would level the structure. Megatron stared at the smaller robot before stamping his foot down hard on the weakening floor. Ratchet strained, but held his ground. The spiderbot used the distraction to scurry up what was left of one of the outer walls, where he could observe the human's reactions undetected.

Amused, but growing bored, Megatron returned his attention to the humans he had trapped in the squad room. "One human is all I require and the rest of you will live to see another day."

"Another day, when you use the knowledge to destroy the rest of the world, right?" Gibbs stepped forward to challenge the leader of the Decepticons. Behind Megatron he saw the running forms of DiNozzo and David desperately trying to climb over the wreckage that once was their headquarters.

"Easy or hard, your choice human." As the battle of wills raged on, the small spiderbot watched and waited. Humans were so predictable; he knew they would work so hard not to look at the one with the knowledge. There he was, the one they surrounded but would not look at. He skittered across a twisted remains of what was once the frame of the skylight for a closer look. The vibration, the hum of the Allspark was there, so muted he would have missed it without all his focus on the search. The human was not much to look at. He did not have the military bearing of the older one facing Megatron, or the muscular build of many of the others, but there was something in him the Allspark had seen so he was cautious in his approach. Three humans surrounded the man, a woman dressed in odd clothing and two men, one light skinned and one darker. Off to the side, the human doctor struggled to save another one of the pathetic life forms. This amused the spiderbot, as he considered himself a doctor of sorts and he was now ready for his patient.

A silent signal was sent to Megatron. He pointed behind Gibbs as the robotic doctor dropped down onto McGee, simultaneously knocking his three protectors to the ground. "He has been discovered." Gibbs turned to defend McGee but was brushed to the side with no effort by Megatron. The two smaller Decepticons moved forward to prevent anyone from attempting to help him. The spider held McGee's head still and leaned closer to his struggling form.

"Probie!" DiNozzo made it past the debris and rushed towards his fallen partner, Ziva a few seconds behind him.

Gibbs struggled to his feet, trying to stop him. "Tony, no." The warning came too late as one of the Decepticons guarding them reached out and grabbed DiNozzo, throwing him against Ducky, both of them landing in a heap on the floor. Ziva was able to stop quick enough to hide behind an upended desk, undetected.

Four legs of the robotic spider held McGee's arms and legs tightly while two more clamped down on his head as the last two legs poked and prodded at him. A compartment opened on his chest and a small metallic worm dropped down onto McGee's chest, wriggling and squirming its way to his face. Anticipating the target, McGee clamped his mouth tightly, his eyes frantically looking around, begging for help. A sudden hit against the side of his face momentarily stunned him and metal claws pried his jaw open. His cry of pain became one of horror before becoming the sound of choking as the apparent probe filled his throat.

Abby started screaming and it took both Fornell and Sacks to hold her still as one of the Decepticons aimed his weapon, the threat obvious. Fornell pulled her head down onto his chest, blocking her view much to Gibbs' relief. Ducky did his best to restrain the semi-conscious DiNozzo on the other side of the horrifying tableau.

"No!" The rumbling and anguished cry came from below as Ratchet tried desperately to reach his charge without the building coming down around all of them. Above him the humans watched as McGee's throat bulged from the invader. The bulge disappeared and McGee began to convulse, a small amount of blood trickling out of his right ear.

The corner Jenny Shepard had found herself in was the only one with an unobstructed view to the Southwest sky. As she and the agents pinned down with her watched the assault on McGee, a grouping of specks in the sky drew her attention. She knew the discussion between Galloway and Morshower had continued long after the signal had been lost in MTAC and wondered absently who had won. She decided they would know soon enough. Either those specks were Autobots coming to help, or since Galloway thought NCIS was so unnecessary, they were long range missiles targeting them to eliminate the problem another way. The third option of more Decepticons was one she refused to even thing about.

McGee went limp as the worm-probe climbed back out of his mouth. It returned to its port on the chest of the Decepticon holding Tim down. The medical spiderbot began to gesture wildly as it projected images in the air above McGee's body. Images of the team, of college days, of Tim's childhood flashed by in a blur, not slowing down until the images changed to the alien symbols he had been writing on the autopsy room walls earlier in the day. The humans who recognized them were terrified what the secrets would reveal to the aliens, while the rest of the humans were confused.

Even those without knowledge of the alien physiology could tell Megatron was pleased by the discovery. "The knowledge of the Allspark is eternal, even when placed within a biological membrane. Now, doctor, open the membrane and remove what we need."

Alien knowledge or not, none of the humans liked the sound of that. When one of the many limbs of the spiderbot opened to reveal a long sharp blade, they liked it even less.

"We will slice open the membrane and squeeze out what we need." The robot tightened its hold on McGee's limbs and pulled, obviously enjoying the pain it was causing as he cried out weakly, too exhausted after his encounter with the probe to make more than a token effort to defend himself.

Still pinned by the debris and the agents determined to protect her, Jenny watched as the specks in the sky grew larger. Their shapes were now visible and with some relief she could tell they were not missiles. They were either Autobots coming to help or Decepticons coming to finish them off. She squinted, watching, looking for the symbol that would tell her if her agency and her people would survive the next few moments.

Still hidden, Ziva watched for an opening. The desk that hid her was Balboa's' and she had stealthily removed both his SIG and his back-up weapon. Well armed, she stepped out and opened fire at the blade arcing down at McGee's head. Between her skills and her close proximity, by the time the magazines were empty, the blade was on the floor. The familiar sound of gunfire shook the rest of the agents free of their shock and they attempted to defend NCIS from their attackers. It was an effort doomed to failure, but the few seconds it distracted the Decepticons was enough.

A red laser focused on the wide chest of Megatron. With a roar of fury his leg rockets fired, propelling him into the air to meet the oncoming robot. The red and blue robot was larger than Megatron but they seemed evenly matched as they collided in the air above the building. Several smaller robots arrived seconds later and immediately engaged the remaining Decepticons as fires broke out in what was left of the squad room from the leg rockets of Megatron.

There were times to stay and fight and there were time to retreat, and the distraction from the attacking Autobots gave them cover to escape. Even as the call for evacuation came from the Director, everyone was already moving in the direction of the exits, grabbing those too injured to move on their own.


	11. Chapter 11

**a/n - thanks for all the wonderful reviews, you guys make my day.**

Limping and battered, the surviving agents stumbled out of the building, carrying the injured. Following standard evacuation protocol, as had been drilled into them, they gathered at the far end of the Riverwalk, laying the injured on the grass to wait for help. Behind them smoke billowed out of the remaining shell of the building. Stragglers from the earlier evacuation orders still streamed out of the main gate, fleeing in terror from what little of the battle had been visible to the rest of the Yard.

Overhead, the two large robots began to battle in earnest as the survivors scrambled to find safety once again. Jenny found herself being assisted by a familiar looking military guard. He was bloodied from a cut on his forehead and limping as he tried valiantly to protect her while staring at the sight in the air above them. "Ma'am, I don't think it would have fit down the stairs." It took a minute for Jenny to realize she had sent the man to guard the back stairs that morning and smiled at his attempt at humor.

"I think he made his own entrance." She watched as Megatron noticed McGee and abandoned the fight with the Autobots to capture the human who held the key. McGee saw he was in danger and began to run, obviously trying to gain enough distance to protect the rest of them. It was a vain but noble attempt as it was apparent Megatron was toying with him. It reminded Jenny of a neighborhood bully when she was growing up who would slowly torture bugs in the nearby park by pulling off their legs and wings one at a time.

Down in the lower levels of what was left of the NCIS building Ratchet strained to hold the structure in place. He scanned the building above him for life signs. Once it was clear, he estimated his trajectory to rejoin the battle now forming out in the Yard. Using his rockets to boost him faster than the joists could fall onto him, he blasted out of the rubble to unite with his fellow Autobots. Once in the air, he saw Megatron leave the battle to chase down McGee. He could not reach his charge in time and called out to the Autobot leader.

"Optimus, there, save him." Any other information he would have given was lost in the blast as another wave of Decepticons entered the Navy Yard, firing energy pulses and missiles. The warning was enough and the large red and blue robot changed direction and scooped up McGee as he ran. The large Autobot launched into the air, gaining as much distance as he could between the human he needed to protect and the Decepticons who would use the information in his mind to enslave the world. Megatron saw this and left the battle to follow them.

On the ground, Gibbs tried to gather the remaining agents. DiNozzo was favoring his shoulder, but was still mobile. Ziva had a bit of a shell-shocked expression but was efficiently assisting Ducky with the more injured survivors. Gibbs groaned to see Palmer among those prone on the ground, alive but unconscious. He turned to Abby as she called out for him, her hands full of clothing she was ripping into strips as temporary bandages.

"They're still after Tim, Gibbs, you have to help him."

"I know, Abs, I know." Even as he said it, Gibbs didn't have a clue how to protect his man from giant killer robots that had just literally torn the building apart looking for him, planning to just as literally squeeze the information out of his brain. He heard a rumble from the wreckage and turned in time to see Ratchet burst through the debris as his movement brought down what was left of the southern wall. Ratchet called out to one of the Autobots and then followed him as the other Autobot plucked McGee off the ground and took off. Megatron gave chase with Ratchet a distant third place in the race for control of McGee and what Gibbs suspected to be control of the planet. The three robots crossed the Anacostia River and Gibbs lost sight of them.

---NCIS---

The few afternoon visitors in Anacostia Park had fled when the first wave of Decepticons passed overhead so no human witnessed the battle in the park. Megatron slammed down on Optimus Prime from above, forcing his tumble from the sky. Protected by the large metallic fingers surrounding him, McGee escaped any damage from the energy blasts, but still was stunned as he banged around in the hardened titanium cocoon that encased him. The ground shook as Optimus hit the ground and slid to a stop, leveling several large trees in the process. The Autobot leader was able to keep his hand clenched through the multiple impacts, only releasing McGee when they were completely still.

"Run, Timothy." Optimus climbed to his feet as soon as McGee was clear. The two robots faced off as the one human in the park ran for cover. Optimus crouched down, preparing to defend as his hands changed into blades.

Megatron slowed his approach, watching for an opening as he taunted the last remaining Prime from their home world. "He holds the key, the key to the source of Energon that was hidden on this pathetic world eons ago. Is it not worth sacrificing this one human for the knowledge that will sustain our entire race?" As he ranted, two more Decepticons arrived to tilt the odds in their favor.

"It would not be one single life, would it, Megatron? Before you were done, all of Earth would suffer the same fate or become enslaved for no other reason than your ego. All life, in all its forms is precious. Humans have taught me to value friendship above all else."

"Fool. So be it, you will die for these pathetic humans." The three Decepticons moved to surround Optimus as he tried to move further away from the clump of bushes that hid McGee from the Decepticons. In the distance he could see the approaching form of Ratchet but things were happening too fast to even hope he would be there in time. Behind Ratchet, more were coming, just clearing the smoke that hung over the Navy Yard. The two late arriving Decepticons charged Optimus' left flank, forcing him to turn to defend himself. It was a ploy, the Autobot realized too late as his unprotected back was exposed to Megatron. At the last second Megatron's hands also shifted into wide blades and he stabbed Optimus in the back. As the blade punched through and out his chest, Optimus reached out and grabbed at the two Decepticons stalking McGee rather than move to defend himself.

McGee was cornered, no place to run, as he looked around frantically for a place to hide; a spot the large Decepticons could not reach into. Nothing suitable was within reach and instead he ran towards the approaching robots, ducking under one as it reached for him. His unorthodox change of direction worked as the two Decepticons tangled as they tried to also change direction without colliding with the two larger robots locked in a death struggle. They were down and McGee was able to get past them, seeing for the first time the damage to the leader of the Autobots. Optimus was on his knees, slowly tilting to the side as the light shining from his eyes began to dim. Ratchet arrived, grabbing McGee and pulling him to safety as he transformed into the truck to carry McGee out of the park. Optimus turned to look at them, tilting his head in a final acknowledgement. The only thing keeping him upright was the blade he was impaled upon. Megatron pulled back the blade, allowing Optimus to fall to the ground. Before he could strike again, the rest of the Autobots arrived. Outnumbered, the three Decepticons fled the park.

Once they were gone, the silence was deafening as the Autobots gathered around their fallen leader. Ratchet and McGee returned, McGee quietly standing next to the robot that had so willingly sacrificed to save him. "Is he really dead, isn't there something you can do to save him?" Ratchet, the medic of the Autobots, returned to his upright form and examined Optimus.

"He is in stasis. If we were on Cybertron I could treat his injuries and he would recover. Here, we will have to wait and hope his internal systems can repair themselves without assistance. I will warn you, it will be a very long wait."

The sound of a vehicle arriving brought them all to attention as an agency sedan pulled into the park at a high rate of speed. The Autobots could tell immediately that it was a completely terrestrial vehicle and stood down. McGee did not relax until he saw the occupants.


	12. Chapter 12

**a/n - still with me?**

The survivors still huddled in the Navy Yard watched as another wave of incoming targets could be seen on the horizon. Even after they were close enough to be identified as military choppers, they did not relax. "Get your team and get out of here." Gibbs looked up as she whispered to him. "We don't know who's coming, or if they were sent by Galloway or Morshower. Get your team, get to McGee and get the hell out of here. There's nothing more you can do for us."

Gibbs looked around for a long moment, afraid he'd never see any of them again. Jenny stood defiant and strong, her broken arm supported by a makeshift sling. Never more than at that moment had she looked like the strong woman she wanted to be. Abby was to her left, writing names the injured on her arm; tracking the missing and presumed dead still unaccounted for. Just past her, on his knees was Ducky, treating the injured as if he were back in the war zone. In truth, that was exactly where he was. The war had come to the Navy Yard, but now it was time to take it to the Decepticons. He nodded in understanding to Jenny, then to Abby as he turned away. Ziva and Tony fell in behind him, as he knew they would, and a step behind them were Sacks and Fornell. When he reached the only undamaged sedan in the lot he turned to his old friend.

"Good chance this is a one way trip, are you sure about this?"

Fornell gave him a wry grin. "We can't let NCIS have all the fun, now can we? Besides, this is our car." To prove his point, he dangled the keys in front of him. Gibbs rolled his eyes and climbed in the passenger seat, leaving his two agents and Sacks to fight over who was stuck in the middle. Ziva lost out because she was the shortest and climbed over Tony after placing a metal box in the trunk. Fornell drove to the closest undamaged bridge to get them to Anacostia Park where they hoped to find McGee alive. Otherwise, all the losses suffered today would have been in vain.

---NCIS---

The troops may have been sent by Morshower, but Galloway was already on the radio they brought with them, demanding a report the moment he arrived. His arrival would depend on how soon the location could be secured. The officer in charge of the arriving troops assured Galloway he would be notified as soon as that occurred. As soon as the transmission ended he assured Director Shepard he would give her and her people all the time they needed before he made that call. A medical team arrived and whisked away the more seriously injured while treating the walking wounded. Jenny allowed a splint to be placed on her arm as she stared at the now quiet park across the river. It was all up to them now.

---NCIS---

Fornell pulled the car up next to the circle of grieving Autobots. Quietly, they exited and walked over to where McGee stood. Gibbs gave the battered agent an appraising look and immediately wished he'd brought Ducky with them.

"You okay?"

McGee didn't even look up at them. "He sacrificed himself for me. He didn't even know me and he sacrificed himself."

"So let's make sure we finish his work." That made McGee look up at him and he repeated his earlier question. "You okay?"

"I'll live." Gibbs wasn't totally convinced, but there wasn't time to argue, as DiNozzo pointed out.

"Umm, guys, we probably shouldn't be out in the open like this." DiNozzo and Sacks were looking around nervously, expecting to see a Decepticon swoop down on them at any second.

A smaller, brightly colored Autobot stepped close to Ratchet. "Keep them safe, we will distract the Decepticons as long as we can." Ratchet acknowledged him by returning to his terrestrial form and opened his doors, waiting for the humans.

Ziva was checking the equipment in the back of the FBI car. "We can't go back to the Yard, where do you suggest we go?"

"A safehouse?" Like Gibbs, DiNozzo was carefully watching McGee.

"By now Galloway will know the locations of every NCIS safehouse. Any suggestions, Tobias?"

Fornell grinned at Gibbs, much to Sacks' surprise. "Actually I know just the place, and it's got room for junior here and all his buddies too."

---NCIS---

With Abby and Ducky flanking her, Jenny watched as Galloway started barking orders, demanding the control of the damaged Autobot be turned over to him. Morshower had arrived and was arguing with him, while the troops sent by Morshower waited for the chain of command to be established. She gave a sigh of relief as the truck and trailer containing the portable MTAC pulled in and parked just past the fire trucks still spraying water on the smoldering hull of their former headquarters. Morshower glanced to the side and gave Jenny the nod she had been waiting for.

Squaring her shoulders, Jenny moved close enough for Galloway to notice her and her escorts. "Perhaps before you decide what to do with my people and my agency, you should check with your assistant. I'm sure she will have an interesting perspective on the day's events, don't you agree?"

"Alice?" Before he could come up with any excuse for her presence at the Yard earlier or where he though she'd be now, Abby withdrew her hand from behind her back and held up the remains of the android head by the blonde hair left on one side.

"You know there is no scientific evidence that blondes have more fun, but I'm pretty sure your Decepticon girlfriend didn't have a really fun day today." Abby swung the head, causing it to spark.

When Galloway stepped forward and reached for it, Jenny blocked his path. "I think she'll stay with us for a little while longer. Besides, Director Galloway, I'm sure you will be much too busy explaining to the President about the Decepticon spy you've been dragging through the White House with you." She turned her attention to the two soldiers standing next to Morshower, grinning. "Major Lennox, Master Sergeant Epps, would you two gentlemen please escort Director Galloway to the main gate? I believe he has an appointment at the White House and we don't want him to be late."

Jenny Shepard may have felt like gloating for just a moment, but a frantic call from the portable MTAC ended that impulse. As she entered the trailer with Morshower, Ducky and Abby, the Decepticon symbol was up on every screen. One of the technicians turned to them as soon as they cleared the narrow doorway. It's taken over every broadcast signal in the world. As they watched, the symbol faded to show an aerial view of an aircraft carrier. Three specks in the sky grew larger, and to the people in the trailer, very recognizable. Three of the Decepticons that had only hours earlier laid waste to the Navy Yard were on an intercept course with the carrier. The largest one shifted and formed a sphere, increasing speed until it slammed into the deck of the carrier, driving clear through the hull. The large ship tore apart from the impact, like it had been made of tissue, and within minutes it sank below the waves. Over the image of a now empty ocean, littered with debris and what Jenny hoped were survivors clinging to it, came a voice she recognized.

"Now you humans know what your government has hidden from you." The image wavered and then was replaced with Timothy McGee's official identification photo. If you wish to survive, you will do as we ask. Give us this human, or we will begin to destroy your cities as easily as we destroyed this ship. Deliver him to us within one solar day or you will see our true power." There was a pause as they all stared at McGee's image, then every monitor in the trailer, in the city, and across the world went blank.


	13. Chapter 13

**a/n - Thanks all, I live for reviews. I'm actually several chapters ahead in my writing (working on cpt 16 now) so there should be a chapter a day until the story is finished. I'm gearing up to start working on the big ending battle now. I was asked about the original characters in the movie - other than a few minor references I can't avoid, I'm not bringing them in at all. This is NCIS in that world, not a crossover in the truest sense of the word. Enjoy, the next few chapters are going to ba a blast.**

Only a few buildings remained standing at the old abandoned factory. The large warehouse looked like it was ready to collapse; the old windows were caked with years of dirt, blocking the view inside. Much to the surprise of the NCIS agents, one corner of the aged building housed a somewhat clean and functional bathroom, a left-over from an FBI operation several years earlier.

Gibbs may have been amused by the amount of supplies DiNozzo and David had purchased the day before after they left the Marine base, but today he was grateful.

"We need to talk." Fornell hissed in Gibbs' ear before he moved away. Gibbs followed, staying where he could watch McGee as he rested. Once they were on the far side of the truck, Fornell gave him the news. "We've got a problem."

"A problem? As opposed to what? This entire day has been one big problem, Tobias."

"I just got word from my Director. The Decepticons just took out the U.S.S. Lincoln."

It took a minute for Gibbs to grasp what Fornell was saying. "The carrier?"

"Tore it in half, the whole thing sunk in a matter of minutes with only a handful of survivors. They beamed the image to every computer monitor and television in the entire world with a message." Fornell took a deep breath and rubbed his face before he passed the message on to Gibbs. "They showed a picture of McGee. The Earth has been given one solar day to turn him over or the Lincoln was just the beginning."

"Damn it." Gibbs paced back and forth. The three awake agents watched the exchange and joined them in time to hear his question. "What's the official stance?"

Fornell looked grim. "My Director has told yours that NCIS has our full support. We don't negotiate with terrorists, even ones from outer space. Homeland Security has said the same thing."

"But?" Gibbs knew it was coming, he just didn't know what it was.

"The CIA is making noises about buying time by agreeing to turn McGee over to the Decepticons."

"Crap. He's feeling guilty enough about what happened at the Yard today; he doesn't need this." Gibbs looked at the rest of them. "I don't want him to know about the threat, at least not now.

Sacks looked back and forth between his boss and Gibbs. "Who do we trust? What do we do?"

"We trust no one else from this point on. As of now, we're on our own." Gibbs waited until Fornell nodded before continuing. "Anyone that we would trust is probably being monitored."

Ziva was already thinking through strategy. "We need to disable the GPS chips in our phones." Tony swung around to look at the sleeping McGee.

"That sounds great, but does anybody know how to do that besides McGeek, there?" He and Ziva looked at each other, and then turned their attention to Sacks. Sacks stared at them blankly before the three of them then turned to look at Fornell.

A slight smirk was the only indication Gibbs found any humor in the situation. "I guess we'll have to wake him up."

---NCIS---

"Sarah." Abby's whisper startled Jenny as she tried to oversee the chaos that was once her agency. Before she could say anything, Abby tugged her off to the side to explain. "We've got to get to her before somebody else does. What if the CIA grabs her to trick Tim?"

Jenny nodded, understanding the implications. Timothy McGee was a loyal employee, there was absolutely no doubt, but his family was the center of his universe. Anyone who knew that had the potential to exploit it. "Go, take Ducky with you. Bring her back here where we can keep her safe." Jenny paused to look around at the destruction. "Well as safe as the rest of us are."

Abby patted her good shoulder and rushed out of the trailer.

---NCIS---

McGee could feel them watching over his shoulder as he disabled the last of the phone chips. They were still usable as phones, but now completely untraceable. Gibbs explanation that a reward had been offered for his capture didn't quite ring true, but he wasn't going to debate the subject, there were more pressing matters at hand. He walked over a dirt covered worktable and used his finger to write out a few of the symbols in the dust before calling out to Ratchet.

"Do you recognize these?"

Ratchet stepped close and knelt down to better see the marks. "They look familiar, but I need to see more to be sure."

Before McGee could write out any more, Ziva pulled a flash drive out of her pocket. "Can you read one of these?" It only took a moment for Ratchet to reconfigure one of his ports to receive the drive. As he was reviewing the contents, Ziva explained to the rest of the group.

"Abby took pictures of what McGee wrote on the walls in autopsy and downloaded them onto the drive. We thought they might come in handy." The approving smile she got from Gibbs was more than she ever remembered from her own father and told her again where her true family was.

Ratchet finished reviewing the contents of the drive and stood to face them. "It is the language of the Ancient Primes, way before my existence."

"How do we translate it?"

Ratchet seemed uncomfortable with Tony's question. "We need a Decepticon."

"Are you crazy?" Sacks went toe to toe with the metal giant. "We just got away from them and now you want us to go get one?"

"We don't have to." Ziva opened the trunk of the car and retrieved the metal box. "We already have one with us."

"What! We've been carrying one of them around with us?" Fornell's glare shut his junior agent up.

Gibbs held the box for Ziva with the other four men watching carefully as he opened it. Ziva was prepared with the tongs and portable blowtorch the three ladies had used to contain the Decepticon in the first place. The small head poked out, recognizing the Israeli woman. "My warrior queen."

Tony had to laugh, but just a little, his memories of his encounter with Alice still fresh in his mind. While he and the others watched, Java bowed his head and waited for her command.

"Can you read this?" She pointed to Ratchet, who projected a sample of the writings in the air between them.

Java became excited looking at the images and Ziva brought the torch closer to him to remind him who was in control.

"Hothothot." He leaned back, shrieking. "It is the words of the Primes, from before. Only ones left who know are the Seekers."

"What are the Seekers?" Ziva risked a glance at McGee, but he looked as baffled as the rest of them.

"Old Transformers, searching, stranded long, long ago."

Gibbs wasn't sure, but it sounded like Transformers had been on Earth much longer than any of them had suspected. "Searching for what?"

Java gave him a dismissive look and returned his attention to Ziva. "Seekers seek. Knowledge too old for Java."

"Well, that was helpful as all hell." Listening to his agent, Fornell was understanding why Gibbs found the head slap to be such a useful tool. His worse nightmare was coming true: DiNozzo was rubbing off on Sacks.

"Not helping, Sacks."

Speaking of DiNozzo, "so where does one seek a Seeker?"

The only reason Gibbs didn't deliver the deserved head slap was his desire not to distract Ziva from her interaction with the Decepticon under her control. Well, that and the need to have the question answered.

Fornell wasn't too sure about any of this. "Are Seekers Autobots or Decepticons?"

"Both, neither. Battle-battle, race-race. Old, some from before the war. One is close."

"How close?" McGee felt an indescribable need to find one of these Seekers. "How close is a Seeker?" Sacks ran to their car and pulled out the GPS unit and handed it to McGee. He held it up as Ziva brought the flame close as a reminder of who was in charge. "Don't even think about trying to send out a signal."

They all watched as the GPS unit was linked to Java and an address came up on the screen.

"You've got to be kidding me."


	14. Chapter 14

**a/n - I'm having fun, are you? One of my favorite lines of the story is coming up in this chapter.**

The proximity of the earlier attack by the Decepticons meant that the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum had been closed to the public for hours when they arrived late that night. Fornell waved Ratchet towards the delivery gate while he and Sacks planned on using their badges to gain access to the building. For the first time since the two FBI agents had arrived on the scene, Gibbs was glad to have them aboard. After the destruction of the NCIS building, waving around his own badge would have been a red flag. McGee was hidden in the back of the truck, where the night security would not see him as they waited.

Fornell straightened his FBI jacket as he watched Sacks do the same. They pulled up as close to the main door as they could and strode up the walkway as if they did this everyday. The night watchman at the front desk came up to the door, unlocking it when he saw the FBI badge pressed against the glass.

"Is there a problem?" The guard was green and nervous, that much was apparent, and it made it easier to pull one over on him.

"Did the evacuation order come through yet?"

"What?" He blinked at the older man, obviously terrified. Sacks almost felt sorry for him as he watched Fornell.

"Did the evacuation order come through yet?" This time Fornell spoke slowly and enunciated each word as if his question was the most obvious thing. It did the trick as the guard assumed he had missed something very important.

"No… no sir, what's happened, what do we do?"

Fornell made a show of checking his watch. "Damn it, we're almost out of time. Get your people and get out of here. Run, there's a command post being set up at the end of the street. Go there and wait for the HazMat team. Hopefully they have enough of the antidote and it's not too late to save you.

"Antidote?"

In less than two minutes Fornell was locking the door behind the last fleeing guard while Sacks looked on in surprise. "That went easier than I was expecting."

"It's all in the attitude." Fornell walked back to the loading dock. "I should talk to Gibbs about pairing you up with DiNozzo for a few weeks. That man is full of attitude."

Sacks stumbled to a halt behind him. "You're joking, right? Fornell? Fornell?"

---NCIS---

It was late when Ducky and Abby arrived at the college dorm where Sarah McGee lived, but all the lights were still on. They had checked Tim's apartment first, hoping she had retreated there, but there was no sign of her at the apartment. Half of the students had fled the college campus that afternoon when the Decepticons attacked the Yard. The rest were huddled together in the two largest dorms, the jocks self-appointed guards at the doors. Abby remembered which one was Sarah's and they parked outside the back entrance. Eyes watched from every window and she wondered if they would even be allowed through the doors. After a long wait while they were studied intently, Sarah came running down the stairs and flew into Ducky's arms.

"Is he all right? Tell me Tim's not dead."

Ducky stumbled back before regaining his footing and awkwardly patted her back as she sobbed. "There, there, my dear. We're going to take care of you until we can reunite you with your brother. Come along, we really need to be on our way before there's anymore trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" A well built young man, a football player by the looks of his jersey blocked their path. "Maybe she'd be safer here. Tell us first why those things are after her brother." His teammates were behind him and the crowd was restless with pent-up worry and anxiety.

Abby was getting that hinky feeling that was telling her time was running out so she went for brutal honesty. "They're after him because he thinks he's discovered a way to stop them. There are two groups of the robots; they were fighting a civil war on their homeworld. Something here on Earth will give one side ultimate power, so who do you want to see find it first? The robots who believe human life is sacred or the robots that are willing to kill us all to get it?"

The students seemed nervous, this was a video game come to life with no reset button. "Sarah, do you trust these people?" The voice was female, but Ducky couldn't locate her in the crowd.

She gave a watery smile. "My brother trusts them with his life; that's good enough for me." Abby hugged her while she continued to watch. Something was off, she just didn't know what. Just as they were turning to leave, she grasped what it was, as a black sedan drove past the dorm. Thinking back, Abby realized it was the second time she had seen the car go by. Looking closer, it was the make and model of sedan used by the CIA.

"We've got trouble, Duckman."

Ducky looked out the window and immediately knew what Abby meant. He turned to the football team. "Boys, we need a diversion. The people in that car plan on taking Sarah as a hostage to gain control of her brother, no matter the consequences."

The leader of the self-appointed guards and the slight, balding medical examiner made an odd pair as they planned out the escape. While plans were being made and protectors prepared, a group of girls raided their rooms for the quickest makeover in the history of Waverly College.

---NCIS---

"Any idea what we're looking for?" Sacks followed behind DiNozzo who was following McGee. He had decided he didn't want to know why McGee was wandering through the museum holding a rock with a pair of tweezers like it would light their way, so he had taken to quizzing DiNozzo.

DiNozzo wasn't quite sure how he'd ended up with Sacks as his wingman as he looked out for McGee. "It's something that could be as small as a cell phone or as big as a semi truck"

"Oh, that's helpful as hell." Whatever else he was going to say dried up in his throat as the rock McGee was holding began to glow and truly light their way. DiNozzo was only speechless for a moment before he was calling in the cavalry.

"Boss? Boss, I think we found something."

Tony's yell brought the rest of them just in time to see the shard of the Allspark fly out of McGee's grasp and smack into the landing gear of a SR-71 Blackbird, an amazing spy plane that was hanging from the ceiling. The glow from the Allspark spread to the landing gear first, then to the rest of the aircraft. McGee was the closest and the first to see the Decepticon symbol forming on the underbelly of the plane. He scrambled backwards, running into Sacks who was frozen, watching the transformation. As they tried to get untangled, DiNozzo continued to watch and was the next to see the dreaded symbol.

"Shit, shit, shit!" He turned to run, grabbing the two prone men by their jackets and lifting them. The three of them dove behind a MIG. Gibbs and Fornell joined them a moment later with Ziva carrying Java right behind them. Creaking and grinding accompanied the usual sounds as the Blackbird transformed. It was finally fully altered and standing on the floor, bent over. As it straightened, it hit its head on the Apollo 12 capsule that was part of the overhead display. It staggered to the side before eventually becoming fully upright. The sound was deafening, a combination of robotic and jet engine, before fading into a rumbling cough.

The Decepticon leaned forward to peer at his surroundings, thick lenses rotating down off the top of his head to fit over his eyes. Fornell leaned towards Gibbs. "He's wearing glasses? How old is it?"

Java was still in Ziva's arms, a chain attached to his neck as a leash. He looked up at the Decepticon and spoke in a hushed tone. "Seeker we have found; oldoldold I told you."

"Who's there? Come out before I blast you." He continued to look around, the squeal of metal against metal as his neck turned caused them all to shudder. He finally spotted them and pointed down at them. "Organics? Show yourselves." Cornered, they slowly stood up, their hands in the air.

The Decepticon watched them carefully as the missile launcher in his arm rotated out and into position. McGee moved forward, sidestepping DiNozzo attempt to grab his jacket again. "I'm sorry; we didn't mean to wake you. You can go back to sleep-shape now, we won't bother you."

There was no verbal answer from the robot; instead they watched a missile slide into position in the launcher before sliding down his arm to land on the floor with a loud thud. Everyone winced when the rocket hit the hardwood floor and were surprised to find themselves still alive. Two more rockets were loaded and fell the same way, causing the same reactions from the humans each time. When it was over, they moved up to stand next to McGee. Tony, of course, was the first to say anything as he turned to Sacks.

"Premature ejection, a common problem in warriors of his age. Right, Boss?" A glare made him back off. "Not that you would know anything about it, personally, Boss."

*Whack*

At first Tony didn't know how the head slap had been accomplished as Gibbs was the furthest away from him.

"Thanks, Fornell."

"No problem, Gibbs. We old geezers have to stick together."

Wondering why they were still alive despite the failure to arm the Decepticon had suffered, they looked back at him. He was trying to bend down to retrieve one of his missiles. He got part way down and could go no further. Apparently giving up, he raised slowly, his knee gears grinding and Gibbs wincing, and finally addressed them.

"Name is…" He looked around, as if deciding. "Name is Jetfire. Now, I have a mission, so must be off." He turned and began lumbering towards the exit, tilting slightly. He meandered a bit as he headed to the large exit door that led to the work area. He stopped at the door, apparently mystified, before using his electronics to override the lock.

This time it was Sacks leaning over to whisper at DiNozzo. "I'm no expert on these things yet, but that one seemed a little odd."

Gibbs was shaking his head, bemused while Fornell watched the robot's journey out of he room. "I was expecting something a little more… something."

Ziva was the first to answer him. "I don't think he is going to hurt us." DiNozzo finally found his voice.

"I don't think he remembers how."

Gibbs reminded them of one simple fact. "We can't just let him wander around by himself." Despite his ungainly gait, they had to scramble to catch up with him in the large courtyard the museum used to work on the aircraft.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's note: Some of Jetfire's words come from the novel by Alan Dean Foster "Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen" Honestly, I just couldn't do better than "Seeping Selenium Sealants." Sorry it's almost late. I've had a horrifically difficult few days this weekend.**

If midnight football games weren't a tradition at Waverly College before, they were now. After a few phone calls to coordinate plans, at the appointed time students poured out of every dorm on the campus, converging on the lawn in front of one particular dorm, surrounding the car parked out front. The occupants never saw which football player held the knife that sliced their tires.

Two Goth girls, one of them very uncomfortable in a short miniskirt, slipped out the side entrance while two preppy girls accompanied by a short gentleman in a tan trench coat and a fedora hat made a run for the far parking lot. The four men from the car tried to intercept them, but were caught up in the tangle of students and their impromptu game of football with no yard lines, no goalposts, and no rules. The older agent stood still against the sea of bodies, watching for something the other did not as they still tried to move against the tide. There, one football player that did not match the rest of them. Shorter and with a different path, this one was angling slowly away from the action. Leaving the other three to chase the obvious, Trent Kort chose his own target to follow.

---NCIS---

Jetfire circled around the courtyard, seemingly puzzled by what he found there. Poking at the assorted pieces of aircraft in various stages of restoration, he seemed baffled by it all. "What planet am I on, I don't remember? This doesn't look right."

McGee felt the alien knowledge in his head made him somewhat responsible for this confused geriatric robot. "Umm, this is Earth. You don't remember why you're here?"

"When you reach a certain mileage, the circuitry starts to get a little temperamental, makes it hard to access old memories. Tell me, is that war still going on? Pointless thing it was, Decepticons became such heathens. That's when I decided to defect to the Autobots. At least they wanted peace."

Java let out a high pitched squeal and broke free of Ziva's grasp, circling around Jetfire's feet. For a few terrifying seconds McGee thought the elderly robot was going to trip and fall, but instead he reached his hand down and Java jumped onto it. The two communicated in a language on human could interpret until Java was set back down and zoomed back to Ziva. At first the rest of the agents thought she was being attacked by the small robot, but they soon realized that he was hugging her leg.

"We can change sides. I can join sides with my warrior queen." Ziva stared at her new metallic friend as he clung to her. Tony's laugh became a strangled cough at her glare.

Ignoring the antics behind him, McGee continued to watch Jetfire as he picked up a casing from a rocket booster and studied it. Holding it up to the light, he stumbled backwards and sat down hard, shaking his head. The grinding wasn't quite as bad this time, but still made everyone wince.

"Seeping Selenium Sealants, I can't even remember my mission." He seemed to stare off into space, deep in thought as the humans waited. Jetfire seemed to perk up as he remembered. "Oh, yes, I know what it was: destroy the dinosaurs. That's what I'm supposed to do."

DiNozzo cocked his head as he broke the news with a grin. "Sorry Gramps, that one's already done." While he was speaking, McGee quietly picked up the shard of the Allspark that had broken free and fallen when Jetfire sat down. Once he had it secured back in the evidence jar and returned to his jacket pocket, he began to draw out the alien symbols in the dirt. Fearing that Jetfire would tip over onto him trying to see them, he drew them larger and larger until the elderly robot could see them clearly.

Behind the unlikely pair, Fornell leaned over to Gibbs. "Should we loan him our glasses?"

McGee kept at it, covering the large courtyard with the markings until he could barely stand. DiNozzo grabbed him and eased him to the ground, forcing his head between his knees. "Breathe, McGee, breathe." He didn't let the other man sit up until his breathing and color returned to somewhat normal. Even then, he kept a hand on McGee's shoulder and didn't let him stand while Jetfire studied the symbols.

"The Fallen? The Fallen? That's it; that was the rest of my mission. After the dinosaurs are destroyed, I'm to find the Dagger, the Kings, the Key. That's it, that's the rest of the mission. We must hurry." Off in the distance, approaching sirens told them time was running out.

"Dagger, king, keys, what does that mean?" Sacks turned to Ziva, hoping for some support as he tried to question the former Decepticon. She was still trying to peel Java off her leg.

Jetfire stood up, looking around as if he didn't recognize his surroundings again. "We have to hurry; we have to get there before I forget where we're going."

"Where?" This time Sacks was shouting, attempting to make some sort of sense of this encounter.

"To where we have to go, of course. Now stand still."

There was something about the way he said those words that set off alarms even in Ziva. "Why do we need to stand still?"

The reply was so matter of fact; it took a minute to sink in. "So your parts get there in one piece."

Sacks stared at him in horror. "Say what?" He and DiNozzo turned to run as Tony answered him.

"I don't think this is a good idea, guys."

Jetfire began vibrating as a low-pitched whine began building. Grinding could be heard from inside his torso as he explained, his voice strangely unaffected by whatever was happening to him. "Technology of the Ancients, the young ones don't have it. Reports of catastrophic malfunctions caused it to be discontinued. Hope my circuits hold." His chestplate began to open, sparks flying, and a blue whirlwind started forming at his feet. Despite the repeated screams to run, no one could pull themselves out of their shock in time as the blue glow expanded to fill the courtyard and even the parking area behind it. Lightening formed, arcing from Jetfire, and reached out to all the human and alien witnesses.

Local Metro officers surrounded the Air and Space Museum, awaiting their orders as FBI and CIA agents argued jurisdiction. By the time they entered the structure, only the smell of ozone remained in the empty courtyard left open to the building. Not even the MCRT truck or the FBI sedan were left behind as clues.


	16. Chapter 16

**a/n - sorry for the delay, had a family emergency. Should be back on track now.**

Jenny paced back and forth, glancing at the time read-out on the wall in the portable MTAC delivered by the Pentagon. It had been a long wait and Ducky and Abby had missed their check in. Cell service was still down from the attack and the residual energy waves still interfered with any attempt at radio communications which eliminated any attempt to use the earwigs. Only the communicators with the advanced shielding were functioning, but NCIS wasn't budgeted to receive any of those for several more years. She promised herself that if they survived, she would personally storm the Capitol and demand the additional funds. There was a commotion behind her as someone tried to force their way past the guards at the door. Jenny smiled at the sight.

"It's all right, let him through." The guards backed off and a battered and bandaged figure stumbled past them. "Jimmy, how are you?"

"I'm all right, ma'am, but I can't find Dr. Mallard." He looked anything but fine and Jenny didn't hesitate in pushing him down on a vacant chair.

"Dr. Mallard should be back soon. You stay right there until he gets back and can take a look at you." She waited until he nodded, then returned her attention to the screens, praying something would show where her missing people were.

---NCIS---

Trent Kort kept his face turned towards the three figures his agents were following, but his attention was on the short football player angling across the lot. He may have been wearing the jeans and jersey favored by the majority of students, topped by a knit cap in the school colors but the shoes were well made and expensive. Italian leather, if he wasn't mistaken, and Trent Kort rarely made a mistake. His agents and the three people they were following turned a corner and he couldn't track them any further. Instead, he picked up the pace as the football player he was shadowing turned the corner at the opposite end of the building.

As he watched, two young Goths met up with the football player and the three of them walked down an alley behind the dorm towards a delivery truck that was parked under an awning. Kort placed himself in their only escape route as the girls climbed in the truck.

"Dr. Mallard, I presume? I would have thought cricket was more your sport." He watched as the older man stood on the running board of the truck and drew down on him with a handgun.

"Mr. Kort, I assure you I will shoot you if necessary. Now step aside, let us pass and forget you ever saw us." The clothing may have been ridiculous on the older man, but the expression was deadly serious.

Kort visibly relaxed his stance but never took his eyes off the other man. Mallard, he noted, did not respond to his attempt to calm the situation. "Will it be worth it?" He knew more about the man than even Gibbs knew.

Ducky knew what Kort was referring to, but deliberately misunderstood the question. "Worth it? To give our people time to stop the invading aliens from destroying the Earth? It is most certainly worth it."

"Can your people stop them? Why do they want McGee?"

"McGee has the knowledge to stop them, that's why they want him dead. If anybody can stop them, it will be Gibbs and his team. You know that as well as I do, Mr. Kort. Now what's it going to be?" The two men stared at each other for a long moment before Kort stepped to the side.

"Tell Gibbs good luck."

---NCIS---

Other than a nest of scorpions that scattered, no living creature witnessed the arrival of the human and alien visitors as they tumbled to a stop after being ejected from the sand dunes. Fornell gave a rather high pitched yelp as Ziva landed hard on him. Her knee, still with Java clutching it, impacted hard on a tender part of his anatomy. She was unapologetic as she crawled off him, smirking.

Gibbs managed to tuck and roll, turning his arrival into a move that looked easy and rehearsed. He pulled his sunglasses out of his coat pocket as he took his first steps. He took in his surroundings as he did a quick head count. Ziva and Fornell were untangling themselves with no apparent long term harm except to Fornell's pride. Beyond them he watched as DiNozzo flew upwards out of the sand with a yell. His landing was not graceful, but he was still moving and complaining. That left two people unaccounted for.

"McGee? Sacks?" Even as he yelled, another form was tossed free of the dune within feet of where DiNozzo had emerged, spewing his own string of curses. Dismissing the apparently unharmed Sacks from his mind, he continued to search for McGee.

Two dunes over, he spotted an unmoving figure half buried in the sand. "McGee!" By the time Gibbs reached him, with the rest of them only a few steps behind him, Tim was sitting up, coughing.

"I'm okay, Boss."

The pallor and the bloody nose didn't exactly reassure Gibbs but before he could argue the point, the sand underneath them began to vibrate. Gibbs and DiNozzo each grabbed an arm and the two of them dragged McGee with them as the group hurriedly moved back. The trembling grew stronger as Ratchet burst up through the dune to land just past them. Once they were at the peak of the far dune, they could see Jetfire struggling to stand.

"Oh, my epidermal alloys. It's been a long time since I did any transspatial porting." Jetfire stood slowly, and looked closely at all of them. "Everyone check your appendages, make sure you're not missing anything or have any of them switched."

'Switched?"

"Say what?"

DiNozzo and Sacks looked frantically at each other before yanking up their pant legs and sleeves to look. Sacks was instantly relieved, while DiNozzo turned to Ziva for confirmation.

"Was my left leg always this hairy?"

Ziva gave him the smile that always distracted him. "Yes it was, my little hairy butt." Sacks covered his ears as he turned away.

"I don't even want to know." Anything else he might have said dried up as he realized what he was seeing sticking up out of the back side of the dune they were on. "Umm, Fornell, is that our car?"

Not quite believing the question he heard, Fornell struggled up the dune to stand next to Sacks. He looked at the black object mostly buried in the sand that Sacks was pointing at. It most definitely was the back end of the sedan he had checked out of the motor pool when he and Sacks had left the Hoover Building a lifetime ago.

"Well, crap. How am I going to explain that?"

Gibbs couldn't quite contain the smirk, even as worried as he was over the day's events. "Explain to your director, or to the… where are we?" The desert they were in was huge and yielded no clues, but somehow Gibbs knew they weren't in the American Southwest. He turned to Jetfire for answers. "Just where are we?"

"I told you, we are in Egypt. The name has not changed since your ancient tribal designations." The humans surrounding him stared in shock.

"Actually, you forgot to mention that little tidbit. In fact, you didn't tell us anything. You just kicked on the blue light special and we ended up here."

"Why?" Gibbs was probably as annoyed as DiNozzo was, but there was no time for his rant. "Why are we here?"

Jetfire tilted his head down to better see Gibbs as he spoke. "Can't you fleshlings remember anything you're told?"

"It would help if you actually told us." Gibbs forced himself to sound calm. "Why don't you explain it to us now?"

"Of course." Jetfire turned his attention to McGee, who was leaning heavily on Gibbs. "Your symbols tell the story of our race and how we became divided. Right here, in this very desert was a monumental fight that…"

They held their breath, glancing at each other, waiting for him to continue. Eventually DiNozzo was the first to lose his patience. "And…?"

Jetfire gazed at him blankly. "And what?"

"The battle?" Even Fornell was starting to lose patience.

A distant buzzing seemed to distract the ancient robot. "What battle?"

Still swaying, McGee pushed away from Gibbs to stand directly in Jetfire's line of sight. "You've got to remember… all those symbols. Please don't make me write them out again."

Jetfire began to nod, but before McGee could tell if he was nodding that he remembered or was nodding because he needed the symbols drawn out again, a World War I biplane flew into view, sporting the Decepticon markings on its wings. The biplane landed and transformed, standing toe to toe with Jetfire. The transformed Blackbird was more than twice the size of the biplane and seemed amused as he looked down at the smaller robot.

"You traitor, you try to help the humans. Today we settle this." As the humans and Ratchet watched, the smaller Decepticon aimed his arm rocket and fired. One shot pinged off Jetfire's chestplate and fell to the ground in front inches from the transformed biplane. Jetfire shook his head as he raised his foot before bringing it down to permanently eliminate the annoyance.

"Never did like him. Now where were we? Oh yes, now I remember. We were Seekers." He pointed to the crumble of metal he was currently scraping off his foot. "I will show you what we were seeking. His chestplate opened and an image began to take shape in the air, projected from his internal workings.

As they watched the images form and reform, Jetfire explained what they were seeing. "Long ago we were ruled by the Dynasty of Primes. Created by the Allspark, one of their missions was to find more sources of Energon in the galaxy." The image changed from the first Primes to a crystalline shape that appeared to rotate in the air as they watched. "The Matrix of Leadership was the key to both activate and power the Great Machine to destroy suns and collect their raw power."

"The Great Machine was sent here to Earth to destroy our sun, wasn't it?" While the others listened, McGee stepped closer to Jetfire. "Why wasn't it destroyed?"

Jetfire stared at the human with the ancient knowledge. "The Primes had one rule: life is precious, and any star system containing life must be spared."

"So why the battle here on Earth?"

"One of the Primes tried to defy the rule, the Fallen. He slaughtered all but one of his fellow Primes. To protect Earth, the remaining Prime hid the Matrix by sealing it in a tomb built from the bodies of the other Primes. He sealed himself inside to protect the Matrix from the one who would betray all that was. The Fallen is in hiding, somewhere, waiting for the Matrix to be discovered. Once the Matrix is found, he will use it to activate the Great Machine. Destroying your sun will give him enough power to create a new army."

"And destroy our planet in the process." McGee quietly finished for him, now understanding the importance of what was trapped in his head. "How do we stop him?"

"Only a Prime can defeat the Fallen. He returned to Cybertron and murdered all the descendants of the Prime Dynasty except for one orphan that was hidden away, not knowing his destiny.

McGee knew who he was talking about. "Optimus Prime."

"You know of him?"

"He sacrificed himself to save me." Everyone, human and alien alike, heard the despair in McGee's voice. "He is in stasis, too damaged to be helped by any of us."

McGee reached into his pocket and fingered the jar containing the fragment of the Allspark he carried. It had transferred ancient knowledge into his mind and had reactivated Jetfire. Another shard had brought back Megatron. Was it possible?

"The Matrix is part of the Allspark, right?" Jetfire nodded his agreement as McGee continued. "Could the Matrix save Optimus Prime?"

"I do not know." Jetfire's voice was deep with sorrow. "It holds a power beyond all understanding, so it is possible."

As encouraging as this was, there was one more question Gibbs though was more important. "How do we find the Matrix before the Decepticons find McGee?"


	17. Chapter 17

**a/n - coming close to the end, the challenge is due Sunday. Thanks for all the great comments and reviews everyone, you make my week.**

Jenny gave a sigh of relief when Ducky poked his head in the trailer. It wasn't until he was all the way in and the technicians starting chuckling at him that she realized what he was wearing. Behind him stood Abby and another woman she did not recognize at first. Abby grinned at her confusion and pulled the other woman up the steps and into the trailer so Jenny could take a better look. Their new guest sported black hair like Abby, but hers was short and spiked. At second glance the tattoos were crude and quickly done, not the color of normal tattoos. The multiple earrings were a combination of clip-on earrings and ones attached with super glue. Still, it wasn't until the young woman opened her mouth that she had the slightest clue.

"Hello, Director Shepard."

"Sarah?"

She chewed on her lip as she brushed a hand over her newly cropped hair. "Tim's going to kill me, isn't he?"

"No, of course not, he'll be thrilled that you're safe." Jenny glanced at Ducky and Abby and knew exactly what they were thinking. "The rest of us are probably toast."

Her giggle was worth it. Jenny had honestly been joking until she saw the look on Palmer's face as he gazed longingly at the freshly minted Goth; then she knew they would be dealing with an overprotective brother – assuming he and the team made it back alive from wherever they were.

---NCIS---

Ratchet and Jetfire sat with their backs to the sun, giving what shade they could to the humans in their care. Luckily the supplies stored in Ratchet had survived the transspatial porting jump and the bottled water was being carefully rationed out. Jetfire looked down at them, the limited movements of his facial components still able to give the impression of sadness as the light in his eyes began to dim.

"I am sorry, we should have landed near a body of water, but my systems are not what they used to be. I can try to translate the symbols for you, but that is all I am good for now. My presence with you will attract the wrong attention for your quest."

"Wait, Jetfire, wait." McGee struggled to understand everything he was expected to do. "How do we find it? How do we find the Matrix?"

"I have updated my language files, but all I can do is tell you what it said. I never found it on my own." His eyes brightened as he translated what he had recognized among the symbols. "When dawn alights the Dagger's tip, Three Kings will lead the way."

McGee turned to Ziva, hoping she would recognize something in his words. He could tell she was thinking through them.

"Dagger's tip?" Ziva chewed on her bottom lip as she thought about it. A metallic clang interrupted her thoughts and they returned their attention to Jetfire as his head fell forward onto his chest, the light now totally gone from his eyes.

---NCIS---

Three more figures entered the portable MTAC trailer as everyone shifted to make room. Jenny made a mental note to tell the SecNav to make it larger the next time there was an upgrade. The two figures in front were Lennox and Epps. In her worry about the missing team, Jenny momentarily dismissed the third to concentrate on what they had discovered.

"Talk to me, gentlemen. What did you find at the Smithsonian?"

As senior officer, Lennox gave the report. "It's been confirmed, the two FBI agents who convinced the guards to evacuate were Fornell and Sacks. The rest of your people weren't seen, but a large box van was seen pulling into the delivery area at the same time. When law enforcement entered the building it was empty and one of the displays was missing."

"A display was missing? Which one?" It had been a few years since she had been inside the Air and Space Museum, but she was reasonably sure everything there had been on display for quite some time.

Lennox seemed uncomfortable with the answer he had. "The SR-71 Blackbird spy plane is missing. Not only that, there was a paint scrape from it on the bottom of the Apollo 12 capsule that was hanging next to it."

"That's… odd. Were you able to find out anything else?"

The two men exchanged a look before Lennox responded. "There was a report of an intense blue glow that seemed to come from the courtyard behind the museum. We don't have a clue what that means."

By now the third person who had arrived pushed his way into the conversation, removing his hat to better show himself. Jenny was horrified to see who she had been ignoring.

"Admiral Morshower, my apologies, I didn't realize you had arrived at the Yard."

Morshower had been using the time to study Director Shepard and her group of survivors. Under the circumstances their work had been amazingly diligent and focused. "It's quite all right, Director. You've had your hands more than full since all this started. Major Lennox, have you asked any of the Autobots what the blue glow could be?"

Lennox shook his head. "One of them remembers stories about some sort of transportation device that was discontinued thousands of years ago, but there is no way that could be it."

"Why not?"

The young woman with the spiked hair looked too young to be a member of NCIS, but the director was nodding in response to the question, so Lennox attempted to answer her. "Nothing in the museum was that old; and we have no proof that Autobots have been on Earth that long."

"Do we have any proof that they haven't been here that long?" This question was asked by an elderly football player, according to his jersey, but by now Lennox was afraid to ask.

"None of them can access memories that far back."

---NCIS---

The sedan had been abandoned to the desert, and the six of them were traveling in Ratchet; Ziva and Sacks relegated to the back with McGee. None of them knew if Jetfire was dead or in stasis, but the urgency of the situation required them to move on. Ziva broke the silence as she remembered a history lesson from high school.

"When I was thirteen or fourteen we studied ancient history. I remember that there was a group of ancient Israelites that had a name for the Gulf of Aqaba because of its shape. I think they called it the Dagger."

Fornell pulled up the location of the gulf on the GPS. "It's actually not that far from here. Could that have been the body of water Jetfire was aiming for?"

"Who knows?" DiNozzo leaned closer and studied the image, wishing they were on a smooth road. Looks like we're going to be driving through some towns to get there though. We're going to be kind of noticeable."

Gibbs shook his head as he nudged the accelerator slightly. "Can't be helped, we've got to get there somehow."

---NCIS---

"When was the last time you slept, Director Shepard?" Jenny looked up as Admiral Morshower sat next to her. She rubbed the grit from her eyes as she thought about it.

"I'm not sure, what day is it?" Dawn was just beginning to lighten the sky, giving an eerie cast to the recovery efforts still going on in the rubble.

He laughed with her, and then turned serious. "This could go on for days; there's no harm in allowing yourself some down time. You don't have to prove anything."

"Prove anything?" Jenny straightened up instantly and Morshower knew he'd said the wrong thing. There was a reason he'd never married. She leaned slightly into his personal space; not enough to be overtly aggressive, but enough to reestablish the pecking order. "My best team is out there, somewhere, trying to save the entire planet. Gibbs was a Marine, so we don't leave our people behind."

A cough and a grin showed Jenny she had the support of Lennox and Epps. She returned the smile, and then frowned as another person entered the cramped quarters.

"Mr. Kort, what a surprise."

Jimmy stepped in front of Sarah protectively the moment he saw the CIA agent. Kort smirked at them, but his attention was on Shepard and Morshower. "It's not a surprise because I'm not here. Just like I'm not telling you that your Major Crime Response Team van was just spotted in the Middle East, Egypt to be precise. Tell Gibbs if he makes it out alive that he now owes me one. He'll understand."

The news was both comforting and alarming. "The CIA knows were they are?"

"No, there was a…" Kort paused and smiled, "glitch in the system. They probably won't figure it out for a few hours."

A knowing look passed between Kort and Ducky, making Jenny wonder what had happened when they'd gone to get McGee's sister. Whatever had happened, it would be a while before they could sit down and talk about it. With a final nod to Ducky, he slipped out the door while his words sunk in.

Sarah was the first one to speak. "Egypt? They drove to Egypt? Tim wouldn't let me drive to Florida for Spring Break, and he just drove to Egypt?" Abby reminded her of one fact.

"If they've already made it to Egypt, Tim wasn't the one driving."

---NCIS---

'Damn, damn, damn' Gibbs cursed under his breath as he took the corner as fast as he dared. The local police car was gaining on them and he knew it was just a matter of time before others joined in on the pursuit. "Any suggestions?"

DiNozzo leaned through the window into the back. "Ziva, any of your Mossad friends able to give a little help here?"

She and McGee were busy bracing themselves, while Sacks lay sprawled on the floor. "Not in time to do us any good. We're going to have to figure this out ourselves."

Java was hanging onto her leg and began squawking in a language none of them recognized. Ratchet apparently understood him because the rear door flew open just as Java dove for it. He catapulted himself onto the hood of the pursuing car and began banging on the windshield. The screams of the officers inside could be heard before they swerved and lost control. Java jumped clear right before they rolled, quickly catching up with them as Ratchet slammed on the brakes. The rear door closed and they resumed their quick pace down the secondary road.

Sacks and DiNozzo stared in disbelief as Java scurried up onto Ziva's lap. "See, I protect, change sides like Jetfire. Keep my warrior queen safe, I will." Gibbs and Fornell were laughing at the reactions of their junior agents while McGee had a more pressing question.

"Ratchet, why haven't you changed your markings? We need to blend in."

Gibbs quickly backed into an alley while Ratchet scanned a sign and made the changes. Once it was done, Ziva climbed out to take a look, reading the lettering in dismay. "Diaper delivery service, is that the best you could do?"

A glare stopped any comment DiNozzo was thinking of before Gibbs turned his attention back to Ziva. "We're going to need help. I think it's time we called your father."


	18. Chapter 18

As Kort left the trailer, an angry man he didn't recognize shouldered past him, causing Kort to turn around. One of these days he and Fornell would have to sit down over a drink and figure out why they always managed to get tangled into one of Gibbs' stunts. Whoever this new player was, Jenny Shepard did not seem pleased to see him.

"Galloway, I expected you to be locked down somewhere by now."

He glared at her, increasingly angry as he saw who was with her. "I still have a few friends left; isn't that right, Admiral Morshower?"

"What are you up to, Galloway?" Morshower knew whatever it was; the good of the Earth would be secondary to Galloway restoring his reputation.

In response, Galloway pulled out a piece of paper. "Enough of the Joint Chiefs are concerned about the alien influence on our military that they have agreed to quarantine them until an assessment can be made. A C-17 is on standby; all the Autobots will be loaded onto it to be taken to a secure location until a determination can be made."

"You'll condemn us all."

"Actually, Director Shepard, having the Autobots contained gives me a bargaining chip with the Decepticons."

"Are you an idiot?" Morshower wanted to punch someone. "The Decepticons aren't interested in negotiations; they want total annihilation. If you've eliminated the only thing standing in their way, why would they even bother to pretend?"

Galloway ignored them as he left to supervise the loading of the cargo plane. One of his hand picked guards took his place, limiting the conversation.

---NCIS---

"Father." Apparently word of what had happened in DC had reached Tel Aviv, as her calls had never gone through to his office so quickly. McGee's adjustments of her phone may have helped also, but she didn't really understand exactly what he had done.

_~Ziva, are you all right? Where are you? What is going on?~_

"Father, I don't have much time. We are in Egypt and need your help." She knew that would get his attention.

_~Egypt? How on Earth did you…~_

"There's no time, Father. I need you to get a message through to Director Shepard." It took some time to relay the exact wording of the message. He knew instantly there was much she wasn't telling him.

_~This isn't an NCIS code I recognize.~_

"I'm sure there are a few Mossad codes they haven't cracked either, Father. Now, can you get the message through to her?"

_~Of course. Is there anything else I can do to help? Those things that destroyed the American ship, can you stop them?~_

"If the message gets through, we have a chance." She paused, trying to make sure he understood the importance of what she was asking. "It may be the only chance."

In his office in Tel Aviv, Eli David stared at the phone still in his hand. Whatever was going on, the fate of the world appeared to be in the hands of a very few, including his only surviving child. Her call for help would be answered, of course, but then he would have words with the code breakers who were supposed to be on top of all things NCIS. He had to know just what was going on. Then he was heading to the Gulf of Aqaba.

---NCIS---

Flanked by an odd assortment of personnel, Jenny watched the satellite link as the Autobots that had rescued them were now strapped down and loaded like cargo into the C-17. Beside her, Abby was practically vibrating with anger.

"We can't let them do this, Director. There has to be some way to stop it."

Jenny gave her a sad look as she kept her voice low to not attract the interest of Galloway's guard dog. "I'm afraid it's going to take more than a haircut and some hand drawn tattoos to get them out of this mess, but I am open to suggestions." Lennox leaned forward, in the guise of reaching for an empty coffee cup one of the technicians had abandoned.

"The C-17 pilot is one of ours. We just need a plan." Anything else he might have added was interrupted when the surviving head of MTAC called out to the director.

"Ma'am, we have an incoming call from Tel Aviv. It's Director David wanting to speak to you personally."

Jenny groaned when the guard Galloway left moved up to stand behind her. He contemplated having him removed, but her father had always told her to keep her friends close and her enemies even closer. Instead she put on her best director face and smiled. "Let's put him on the main screen, shall we?"

Eli David was speaking the second the live feed came through. "Jenny, my darling, I've been so worried about you. Are you all right, my precious buttercup?"

Luckily, the MTAC staff was trained to not react, which prevented a shockwave from rippling through the trailer. Most of them couldn't help but blink as the conversation went on.

"Eli, love, it's been a difficult few days, but I'll be all right. I didn't want you to worry."

"That's so good to hear. My darling daughter insists that you do some shopping for her, but I didn't know if you were up to it."

Jenny forced herself no remain calm. "Of course, Eli, what would she like?"

"She asked that you get her a dress that she saw briefly right before she left town. She said that it was _red and blue_ and would accent her _prime_ features. She also asked that you send all the _accessories_ that go with it. Apparently she is sure that the dress will bring her social standing _back to life_. She had the catalog number for it; are you ready?"

She picked up the pen and paper that Ducky handed to her. "Go ahead, Eli."

Director David picked up his glasses to better read the notes he had made only moments earlier. "It's catalog number _twenty-nine dash three-one and then an E, thirty-five_. It's important that she have the dress for a _neighborhood_ function that's _very soon_. She considers it _life or death_ that she have the proper items for the party before the rest of the _guests_ arrive."

Jenny exchanged a furtive glance with Morshower before glancing at Lennox and Epps. They had all picked up on the underlying message. "Don't worry about a thing, Eli. I'll take care of all her needs and have the entire package _air_ expressed to her. It'll _drop_ in her lap before she knows it."

"Thank you, my darling." Eli gave a slow nod to indicate the success of their conversation. When the screen went black, Jenny was startled to see the reflection of Galloway's face. He stared at her for a long time after she turned to face him.

"I've listened to probably ten thousand wiretapped conversations in my career, Director Shepard. Do you want to know the one thing I've learned?"

She wasn't going down without a fight, so Jenny raised her chin defiantly as she spoke. "What would that be, Mr. Galloway?"

"Any man that wrapped around his daughter's finger, doesn't really have room in his life for any other woman." Satisfied he had saved her from heartbreak, Galloway turned and left the trailer, his man falling in step behind him.

Once the door closed behind them, Lennox and Epps prepared to move out. They were scheduled to be on the C-17 and could comfortably leave, now that a plan was in place. No one acknowledged that they had no idea what would happen when they arrived, but at least they had a destination. Lennox leaned close to Morshower. "We'll need a rainstorm after we arrive."

"We'll be standing by."

In the shadows, Trent Kort watched, growing angry that his boss had been duped by the slick Galloway as he saw who the true players were and the stakes that were at risk. A quick phone call made sure Galloway no longer had the CIA's resources at his disposal.

---NCIS---

Dan Buckland had been a pilot for over sixteen years and a member of NEST since the early days. Watching the aliens he had fought alongside being treated like scrap metal was probably the hardest thing he had ever done. He kept praying that someone would see past this political boondoggle and put them all back on the path to defeat the Decepticons and save the planet. When Will Lennox sat in the vacant co-pilot seat with a wide grin on his face, he knew his prayers had been answered. After converting the fake catalog number into map coordinates, they devised a plan to get the Autobots and the NEST troops off the plane without the interference of Galloway. Failure meant court-marshal, but if the Decepticons won it would be a moot point anyways.

---NCIS---

Megatron arrived at the appointed spot, transforming from a terrestrial fighter jet into his Decepticon shape. He bowed as he sent out a signal to his master. The face of the Fallen shimmered as it formed in front of him.

"You have found the human with the ancient knowledge?"

"Yes, my Lord, he is approaching where it all began."

The Fallen tilted his head in pleasure. "Once we take the knowledge from him and have the Matrix, we will activate the Machine. Prepare for my arrival, prodigal, it is time."


	19. Chapter 19

**a/n - almost to the end of this baby, I hope you have enjoyed the ride. Thanks to all for your wonderful reviews. You make writing a fullfilling experience. After I post the last chapter of this, I have a one-shot to post and then I will be alternating between posting chapters in two different long stories and yes, one of them will be the sequel to Tarot Twins.**

Parked behind what was at one time the original tourist center for the Giza Pyramids, the group reviewed their options as they ate. Between the endless battle and the jump across half the planet, knowing what day or time it was had become a lost art. Whatever date it was, it was night where they were, only a few miles from the gulf. Sacks and Fornell had given in, choosing sleep over food, leaving only Team Gibbs to plan. DiNozzo and Ziva poured over the GPS of the area, hoping to find something they could use to find the Matrix, while Gibbs studied McGee. Ever since Jetfire had been left behind, the young agent had become more and more withdrawn.

"You okay, kid? McGee?"

Eventually Tim turned to Gibbs, as if he'd just noticed the other man. "It's so close."

His words caught DiNozzo's attention and he moved closer, remembering McGee's comment in the field right before he found the splinter of the Allspark. This time he took the words very seriously. "What's close, McGee? Is it like last time; can you sense the Matrix like you could the Allspark?"

Tim knew he wasn't making sense. "It feels like one of those puzzles, where if I get just one piece in the right spot, everything else will just fall into place. I am so close to understanding the symbols, but I can't quite get them."

Gibbs nudged him back to lean against the side panel. "Maybe you're pushing too hard. Just relax for a while, look at the stars and the pyramids and unwind."

"The stars and the pyramids." McGee sat up straight and repeated himself. "The stars and the pyramids, that's it."

"What's it?" Gibbs looked over his shoulder at DiNozzo who looked as baffled as he felt. The tone of McGee's voice woke Fornell who immediately woke Sacks. Even Ziva stopped what she was working on to move closer.

"I know where the Three Kings are." Knowing he had everyone's attention, McGee continued. "It was in one of the books Sacks picked up for me. The pyramids at Giza were built to line up with the stars that made up Orion's Belt. Those three stars were known as the Three Kings. It's like an arrow; at dawn they will point to a spot on the horizon. If we work out the timing and the location…"

For the first time since they had followed Galloway on his morning visit to NCIS, Sacks felt a flicker of hope as he finished McGee's sentence. "Three kings will lead the way."

It took the combined capacity of the GPS and McGee's math skills along with some information from one of Ziva's contacts, but within the hour they knew exactly where they would need to be to greet the morning sun.

---NCIS---

All night missions were not a rare occurrence for Mossad or NCIS, but it was rare for them to be so quiet. Eli David waited in his top floor office, staring at his telephone, willing it to ring. Throughout the rest of the building, operatives and agents studied every scrap of information, hoping for a clue. On the other side of the planet, NCIS agents and technicians were mirroring their actions, cramped in the portable trailer, sitting next to the rubble that was left of headquarters. Airborne, between the two, an aircraft filled with soldiers and Autobots prepared.

When the call came into Mossad, David had a location. Now all he had to do was wait until dawn to call the King of Jordan, and hope they could stay alive until then.

---NCIS---

Luckily it was still dark when they arrived at the national park the stars had pointed to. They avoided the roads and managed to slip past the night watchmen to enter the tomb, undetected. Ratchet carefully removed the gates that blocked their path. Once deep inside, they found themselves surrounded by murals left behind when the Romans conquered Egypt.

"Great, now what?" DiNozzo sagged against one of the walls, exhausted, while Ziva and McGee continued to study the murals. Gibbs and the two FBI agents spread out to keep watch, not having a clue how they would explain their presence to the Jordanian government.

When McGee approached the same mural for the third time, Ziva stepped closer to take a look. Ratchet moved close also, using his lights to give a better view. At first she didn't notice anything different, but when Ratchet moved, she saw the difference in the shadows. "The texture is different here."

Taking her word for it, McGee moved to the side to better see the shadows she was looking at. She was right, there was a difference in the texture of the wall under the painting. He let his eyes gaze at it until they blurred. Just like the puzzles he loved as a child, when he no longer focused on the colors, the shapes came to the forefront. Suddenly McGee realized he was looking at one of the ancient alien symbols he had drawn repeatedly over the last few days.

"It's here, we've found it!" Ratchet immediately began to chisel away the Roman additions to the wall, exposing more of the alien markings. The design was beautiful and elegant and inlaid with a metal no Earthling had ever seen before. When McGee nodded to him, Ratchet pulled up one of his smaller weapons and blasted a hole in the wall. Not waiting for the dust to settle, McGee climbed through the hole with Ziva right behind him. DiNozzo was next, followed by the rest, as Gibbs took a careful look toward the main entrance. So far, their luck seemed to be holding.

Ratchet was the last one through the hole, and it wasn't until he was inside with his lights that they could see what they were standing in. Surrounding them were the bodies of twelve Transformers, creating the floor, the ceiling and all the walls of the cavern they were in. Walking through a tomb created out of once living beings was surreal to say the least. Even DiNozzo could think of nothing to say as they looked into the faces of the slaughtered Primes. The body making up the far wall was different and McGee moved closer to take a look. One arm was sticking out of the wall, rather than having been fused into the structure, the hand held palm up. It appeared to be offering something and McGee cautiously looked into it.

Sand. Coarse, black sand was in a mound, protected by the slightly cupped metal hand. McGee sagged in disappointment as Gibbs came up behind him.

"Whatever it was, McGee, it's destroyed, gone."

"No." McGee shouted and pulled away from Gibbs. "Look at them. All of this was to protect one thing, to hide it from the Fallen. There has to be something we can do." Ignoring his boss, McGee opened the jar he carried containing the shard of Allspark and poured the black sand in with it.

---NCIS---

Up in the cockpit of the C-17 Dan Buckland checked his watch before adjusting the throttles for his port engines. Moments later, the plane began to vibrate and loose altitude while alarms began sounding throughout the aircraft.

Sitting in his assigned spot, Galloway had spent the entire flight alone and ignored. As aircrew and soldiers alike began rushing past him, he stood to gain someone's attention. Lennox finally slowed down long enough to speak to him. "We're going down, sir. Emergency evac, our only hope it to lighten the load so we can land safely. We have to hurry, there's no time." As he barked out orders, Lennox placed a parachute on Galloway and walked him towards the back of the plane. More alarms sounded as the bay doors opened.

"Are you familiar with a standard-issue chute, sir?"

Galloway stumbled as he struggled to tighten the straps as he was shown. "No, of course not. What the hell is going on?

"We've lost both engines on the port side, it's time to go. We can't risk the plane going down in such a politically sensitive area, so everything not vital has to go. That way the pilots can make it to someplace neutral"

This was certainly not some safe office, and Galloway was beginning to panic, yelling to be heard over the noise form the open bay doors. The wind was making his eyes water and making him disorientated. "Why haven't you put your parachute on yet?"

"Gotta secure the VIP's first. Standard protocol, sir." Lennox yelled out the specs of the parachute and the features in it designed to help the wearer survive.

Galloway nodded frantically, trying to absorb the information being thrown at him at mach speeds as the gusts of wind took half the words before they reached him. Panic overtaking him, Galloway saw Lennox gesture frantically at his cord and heard the words "hurry… pull… hard." Not waiting for verification he did just that. His main chute began to unfurl right there in the plane. Lennox blinked at him.

"Sir, I said to pull it hard when you jump."

Whatever obscenities Galloway was yelling at him went out in the open air along with Galloway. Lennox watched as he drifted away, his chute opening safely. Epps joined him as the engines caught once and resumed normal operations. "Too bad he was in such a hurry to leave. It's a long walk back to civilization from here."

---NCIS---

In a small basement office in Langley, Trent Kort monitored the GPS on Galloway's parachute. When he had a location he radioed it to an operative on the ground. "Subject is landing point three clicks of your location, North by Northeast. Keep him on ice for a few days, no outside contact until I authorize a pick up. You copy, Delta five?"

When the affirmative call came back in, Kort pulled of the headphones and leaned back in his chair. "Okay Gibbs, you and your motley crew go save the world."


	20. Chapter 20

Not waiting for human assistance, the Autobots on board the C-17 quickly broke free of their bindings as the plane banked and prepared for the real drop. The NEST soldiers concentrated on Optimus Prime's unresponsive form. A secretive phone call from Morshower, made easier by Eli David's advanced warnings, had cleared the way and evacuated the Jordanian coastline. Warriors, both human and alien, along with pallets of supplies and the pallet containing Optimus fell to Earth with precision and timing. Within ten minutes of landing, everything was secured and Optimus Prime was hidden under camouflage. Ratchet's signal was traced, and the team set out towards an abandoned town less than two miles from the drop zone.

One lone F-22 Raptor crossed the sky low in front of the advancing troops, the distinctive engine sound grated on Epps' nerves in a way it normally would not. "Something's wrong; what's one fighter jet doing out here by itself? Lennox shook his head at the question, already trying to radio for information. The sound coming from the jet changed pitch and Lennox ripped off his headphones with a cry of pain.

Still clutching his head, Lennox yelled at the rest of them and into the voice pickup at his throat. "EMP burst, does anyone copy? Anyone?" He turned to Epps and the Autobot next to him. "They've taken out all electronic communications. We're on our own."

One of the other soldiers looked up from the visual check he was running on his own communication gear. "They'll see it on the satellite, right? Somebody will be watching the satellite feed." Lennox didn't answer him, but prayed he was right and somebody in Washington was paying attention.

They were almost half way to the town when the sky darkened from the many Decepticons bearing down on them. Lenox and Epps exchanged a quick glance, knowing the team from NCIS was hopelessly outgunned and outnumbered and prayed the additional help from Morshower was on the way.

Well above the action on the coast of Jordan one Decepticon remained in space. The Decepticon known as Soundwave tapped into the orbiting satellite currently beaming images back to DC. When the satellite was in range to show the location of the battle, all it showed was the NEST troops and the Autobots stationary on the ground, apparently waiting for something, not a Decepticon in sight. As he projected the altered images, Soundwave enjoyed the show

---NCIS---

Unsure of their next move, Gibbs and crew arrived in the nearby town to find it recently abandoned. The familiar whine of the engines of a C-17 filled the air and they watched help arrive. McGee started to move in their direction before Gibbs grabbed his arm and yanked him down to the ground.

"Boss, I've got to get to Optimus, he's the only one that can stop the Fallen." He tried to shake off the other man, but Gibbs was not about to let go just yet.

"Get to him and do what, McGee?"

"I'll know, Boss." He tapped the side of his head. "I'll know."

Gibbs gave him a hard look, but McGee's eyes were clear and he seemed calm and focused. He then glanced behind McGee at the rest of the group before answering. "We'll get you there, McGee. Let's just make it there in one piece, okay?" It was not Special Agent Gibbs that laid out the plans, but Gunny Sergeant Gibbs, as his experience and training came rushing back. Ziva made a few suggestions, using her own Mossad training in urban warfare, while the civilians listened carefully for their orders. With any luck they would be able to rendezvous with the incoming soldiers and Autobots before any Decepticons arrived. Unfortunately, luck had never been their strong suit, but the cautious plans meant none of them were without cover when the Decepticons fell from the sky.

---NCIS---

In the cramped trailer Jenny Shepard again brushed off suggestions she needed more rest and medical assistance as they waited for the satellite images to come up on the screen. Morshower stood next to her as the image slowly cleared. He knew Lennox and the NEST team would not break radio silence unless there was a real need, but watching for himself always made him feel better.

The image went through several cycles of pixilating and resolving before they could see the assorted Autobots and human soldiers clustered in groups on the sandy shore near the gulf. Unsure, Jenny turned to Morshower.

"What are they waiting for?"

Despite his years of military experience, he didn't have an answer to give her.

---NCIS---

Being outgunned thirteen to one meant that Ratchet's only option was to protect the humans in his charge until help arrived. They followed a zigzag course through the town, no more than two people in each group. DiNozzo had been paired up with Sacks, much to the dismay of each of them, while Ziva and Fornell were matched up as Gibbs took on personally the responsibility of getting McGee to Optimus Prime alive and intact. The three groups spread out before moving in the direction of the approaching soldiers while Ratchet moved stealthily behind them. Part of him wanted to transform back into his terrestrial form and dash across the desert with his charges, but he knew that would limit his ability to defend them.

Sacks and DiNozzo made it to the edge of the town square before they were discovered by a Decepticon. Hoping to draw it away from the others, they headed in the opposite direction. The robot chasing them was huge and wasn't able to maneuver between the buildings as easily as two terrified humans. That gave them an advantage until it gave up finesse and began just demolishing through the stone and mortar buildings.

Forcing herself to ignore the sounds of falling rubble, Ziva pulled Fornell along as they ran down the alley, his FBI jacket and leather dress shoes an odd sight in this ancient country. Rounding a corner, they dashed into a building to avoid detection. Two Decepticons communicated with each other right outside the window they were crouched underneath and she wished she'd brought Java with her rather than leave him secured inside Ratchet's cargo hold. With no idea what they were saying, she and Fornell waited for them to move out.

A small bug flew through a gap between the window and the wall and Fornell instinctively swatted it down, used to ex-wives and daughters who hated flying insects. It wasn't until the bug hit the ground and the mechanical voices stopped that he realized the flying creature he'd killed wasn't organic. He and Ziva had a split second to look at each other before the roof was ripped off their hiding place. The falling debris blocked the outside doorway, leaving them nowhere to go but up. For a split second he wanted to yell at her that up meant getting closer to the mechanical beings trying to kill them, but she had a firm grasp on his hand and he instinctively followed as she dashed up the crumbling stairs and leapt across to the roof of the next building. Once there, they didn't slow down, but continued across, jumping again and again with the two Decepticons in pursuit.

Grateful for the diversions, Gibbs made it across the town with McGee. Once they were past the last building, there would be no more cover available to them, so he tugged McGee down to plan out their next strategy. "McGee, no matter what happens, I want you to keep running, do you hear me?" The nod he received was only slightly distracted as the other man looked around.

"The cavalry is close, Boss." McGee was right, they could hear the approaching Autobots and soldiers battling the Decepticons trying to outflank them. McGee looked pale and sick and Gibbs debated waiting for their rescuers to come to them. A roar from above them showed they were out of time as Megatron landed on the roof.

"Time to die, human."

"Go, McGee!" Gibbs gave him a shove to get him started before pulling his SIG Sauer. It would be like tossing grains of sand at the giant robot, but hopefully the annoyance would buy McGee a few extra seconds.

---NCIS---

Inside the MTAC trailer there was a nervous energy as they continued to watch the images being streamed to them from the satellite over Jordan. Morshower kept looking at his watch, knowing that the image would be lost when the satellite moved out of range in just a few minutes. He didn't know what was wrong, but his gut told him something was. Director Shepard seemed to come to the same conclusion and tapped her communication tech on the shoulder the same time Morshower reached for his phone.

Sometimes civilian contacts were faster than military ones as Jenny's call to Mossad headquarters gave them access to an Israeli spy satellite before Morshower's requested UAV overflight could get airborne. In silent horror they watched as the image shifted from one satellite feed to the other and the story totally changed. Morshower quickly called for the needed reinforcements while in the corner Sarah openly sobbed against Palmer and Abby clung to Ducky.

---NCIS---

McGee felt the ground shake as Megatron landed behind him, but he didn't look back. He didn't think he could take seeing one more person sacrificed to help him with his quest. He heard Gibbs get off three rounds before his gun was silenced. No longer thinking, barely taking the energy to breathe, all of McGee's effort was concentrated on making it to the silent robot he'd seen fall from the sky.

---NCIS---

Two smaller Autobots had ignored orders and darted away in the direction of the town rather than stay with the organized movement of the rest of the group. That meant Mudflap and Skids were the first ones to reach the grouping of structures. A quick scan located the nearest fleeing humans and they moved to intercept. The humans they were locked onto didn't notice them at first, too busy running from the massive Decepticon chasing them, destroying everything in its path.

Whatever plan they might have had at one point was gone as DiNozzo and Sacks ran in pure terror. As long as they were still alive and the monster chasing them was not attacking any of the others, their actions were a success. DiNozzo stopped short as a small sports car came to a careening halt in front of them and Sacks plowed into his back a second later. Before the two men could untangle themselves, a second sports car arrived and the two transformed into robots not much taller than the 6'2" DiNozzo. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Tony didn't waste any time getting to know the new Autobots.

"Come on, we need to create a diversion." The Autobots shifted back into their terrestrial forms and the two vehicles took off with passengers inside.

---NCIS---

He had been a young operative the last time he'd spent this many hours bouncing around in a jeep, but Eli David was determined to be there personally when his daughter's team brought down the alien invaders. The Mossad officers seated behind him looked terrified and he laughed silently at the thought he'd so often had that Ziva was wasting her abilities playing with such a small American agency. He'd have to apologize to her when this was done, assuming they all lived through it. With that thought he glared at his driver until the man sped up even more.

---NCIS---

Sacks sat behind the wheel in the silver sports car, looking around as he was driven across the desert. Mere feet to his side, DiNozzo was in the other car. They had left the chasing Decepticons in the dust and he started to relax. A huge pit from a nearby mining operation was in front of them and both Autobots came to a halt. Both men climbed out and looked around. DiNozzo shook his head.

"We're not much of a distraction if they're not chasing us."

The FBI agent wasn't convinced there was a down side to not being chased by giant killer alien robots, but he refused to look weak to the other man. "So what now?"

DiNozzo started to answer, but movement in the pit distracted him. He watched as several large earthmovers began climbing on top of an even larger piece of equipment. Sacks moved closer to the edge and they watched, transfixed, as the mining apparatus transformed into a Decepticon so large it blocked their view of the sun.

---NCIS---

Fornell gave a fleeting thought to what would happen when they ran out of roofs to jump onto as they reached the edge of the town. He supposed they could just circle the town but he was rapidly reaching the limits of his endurance. Changing direction slightly, Ziva led them onto the roof of a shorter shed. This one was not able to support their weight and they crashed through to the dirt floor. Vaguely feeling the impact they both rolled to their feet and were out the door just as the chasing Decepticons crushed the small outbuilding. They watched McGee's attempt to outrun Megatron and moved to intercept the robot. Fornell had pitched on his college baseball team and put those skills to the test as he spotted a smooth rock. Every bit of his skill and remaining strength went into that one pitch.

---NCIS---

If DiNozzo had been in a joking mood he would have called it Devastator, and he would have been right. This Decepticon was the largest of all the modern Transformers and relentless in its pursuit of the enemy.

Sacks felt a calmness come over him as he came to realize the chances of surviving the next encounter. Dying to save the world had a nice ring to it. He looked over to DiNozzo and saw the same calm understanding. With a nod, he reached out and they shook hands. "You're okay, DiNozzo."

"You're not so bad yourself, Sacks." A slow grin crossed his face as Tony DiNozzo quoted the line he'd wanted to say for quite some time. "Let's go kick some alien ass."


	21. Chapter 21

**a/n - one more chapter and an epilogue after this. Lots of action going on in this one. Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews. **

Fighter jets, helicopters and bombers of every description were preparing to converge on the small point of southern Jordan. Most of the aircraft bore the US flag, while a smaller number were from NATO. A second wave of defenders was also airborne and this group wore the colors of a strange collection of allies and former enemies. Israeli and Arab jets flew side by side, called together using every bit of political influence and every favor Eli David had collected over the years. At top speed they would converge over the battle in only minutes, but as all the pilots knew, minutes can make or break a battle.

---NCIS---

Fed up with the annoying human insects that kept buzzing around his feet, distracting him from his prey, Megatron swatted the closest one, knocking him against a wall before he crumpled to the ground. He bent down, wanting the pleasure of seeing the human's death in close detail. As he reached out, an object hit his right optical lens. It automatically went off-line momentarily as it refocused and he straightened to confront this new threat. As his vision cleared, he spotted two more human insects, a male and a female. They would be easy to eliminate, the three of them, and then he could play with his new toy: the human with the knowledge of the Matrix. A summons from his master stopped him from crushing the human annoyances, but there was really no place for them to go.

---NCIS---

Devastator moved towards the sounds of battle before the movement near his feet caught his attention. Two small Autobots darted around, taunting him. He brought one of his feet up to step on them, but they were too fast. After several attempts to stomp them into oblivion, he chose to use a more crude method of assault. In a move that reminded DiNozzo of a Star Trek episode he'd seen as a child, a giant maw opened up and began to suck up everything in its path. Dirt, rocks, and then boulders flew up in the whirlwind that was being created.

The small battered VW Bug DiNozzo was hiding behind started sliding, caught in the turbulence and he scrambled to find better protection. Sacks was clinging to an iron staircase and held out a hand, pulling DiNozzo close enough to grasp it as well. They hung on and watched as one of the small Autobots tumbled and was sucked in. One annoyance down, Devastator moved closer to finish of the others. He straightened suddenly, then wobbled before jerking his head to the side. The two humans had no place to go and watched in sick fascination as the remaining Autobot charged at the giant's feet.

Before Mudflap could reach his target, Devastator began shaking his head even more. There was an odd, grinding noise before his right eye exploded outwards. Skids flew out the hole he had created and continued to buzz around the huge head. Devastator swatted at him, but small equaled fast and he only managed to hit himself in the face. One massive foot came down too close for comfort and the two agents left their spot to hide underneath the Decepticon, where they could not be seen by it. Enraged and half blind, the slow moving giant started climbing out of the pit. He stopped and changed direction, now ignoring the two Autobots that were continuing to pester him. Without a clue where they were headed. DiNozzo and Sacks stayed hidden behind his feet and the Autobots joined them . As they climbed, they could see they were at the base of a large pyramid. The men reached the top of the pit in time to see the sky split open above the ancient pyramid. A metallic, swirling figure stepped through the tear and Devastator bowed low in supplication. Instinctively both men knew they were looking at the Fallen. Standing between the Fallen and the kneeling Devastator, Megatron looked pleased with himself.

"Master, your machine remains as it was, safely hidden." Megatron waited, knowing he would soon be at the right hand of his master.

"And the Matrix?"

Megatron would never bow, not even to his master, but he did tilt his head slightly in acknowledgement. "The human runs, but he has no place to go."

No matter how alien the face, the pleasure was apparent. "It is time, bring it to me, prodigal, and we will end the war and this pathetic world with its human infestation."

Two members of that infestation watched as Megatron left, speeding back to capture McGee and what he carried.

As Megatron vanished from sight, two more objects came into view. As they came closer, others became visible in the distance. Sacks gave a low whistle as he recognized two Blackhawks swooping down, guns blazing. One of the helicopters banked as rappelling ropes were dropped and a squad of Special Forces began to deploy. A Decepticon unleashed a plasma weapon and destroyed the aircraft. From their vantage point, Sacks and DiNozzo watched the Autobots frantically attempt to defend the arriving troops. The second Blackhawk broke off from the battle, its engine smoking, as the pilot tried to find a safe place to land. Their path took them near the quarry pit at the foot of the pyramid and the Fallen swept his hand towards the Blackhawk, using no visible weapon to send it tumbling from the sky.

Devastator left the edge of the pit and began climbing the pyramid, while Sacks and DiNozzo slid back down partway into the pit. Once they were out of sight, they hurried to the downed chopper and dragged the survivors clear of the wreckage, keeping one eye open to what Devastator was doing on the pyramid. Sacks closed the eyes of the pilot he was unable to save and sagged for a moment, rubbing his face. DiNozzo was still going strong as if on autopilot, and he refused to show any weakness in front of the other man. Sacks stood, looking again over his shoulder and froze.

"DiNozzo?" He waited for a few seconds before whispering louder. "DiNozzo?"

Tony heard his name being hissed and turned around. "What?" Sacks didn't say anything, he just pointed to the top of the pyramid. Devastator was smashing the cap of the pyramid, tearing the stone away to expose a metal spire. The two men stared at it, then at each other as they began to realize what they were looking at. DiNozzo could barely breathe, let alone speak, but he forced himself to verbalize what they were seeing. "The Great Machine is inside the damn pyramid. They built the pyramid around it."

---NCIS---

For the second time since Fornell had met the Transformers, he found himself dragging Gibbs' unconscious body out of harm's way. This time Ziva had the other side so it was a little quicker and easier. His acceptance of the insanity of alien robots might have made the act a little easier, but he refused to think about the possibility. Once they had Gibbs leaning against what was left of a wall, he was able to take a look around. Sacks and DiNozzo were nowhere in sight, but since they had been on opposite sides of the village he wasn't overly concerned yet. DiNozzo had a remarkable ability to land on his feet and Sacks would survive just to continue to annoy the NCIS agent.

McGee was his next concern, and through the dust he could see him making his way across the sand, apparently still headed to where they had seen the cargo plane drop Optimus Prime. It was obvious that the young man was at the last of his strength and was barely able to keep himself upright.

If McGee had known of Fornell's concern he would have agreed with the older man. It felt like it had been hours since Gibbs had yelled at him to run, had sacrificed himself to give McGee time to get to the downed robot. He had hoped the presence of the soldiers that arrived with the Autobots would make it easier, but now he was in the middle of a battle zone with no safety in sight. He peered out and could see the outline of several human shapes coming close. One more dash landed him in a blast crater only seconds before the incoming soldiers threw themselves into the same crater.

---NCIS---

"Crap." DiNozzo looked between the top of the pyramid and the radio he had retrieved from the downed helicopter. He was more aware of things than most people gave him credit for and it usually kept him alive. Today that knowledge was probably going to get him killed. Sighing as he tried to remember everything Paula had ever told him about ships and their protocols, he slung the radio strap over his shoulder and started climbing out of the quarry pit and after Devastator. With a string of curses to match his own, he heard Sacks fall in behind him.

---NCIS---

Lenny Wilder had always wanted to be a ship's captain, ever since he was a little boy in San Diego watching the large Navy ships come and go. Now all he wanted was this tour to be done so he could return to walk his little girl down the aisle. Instead, their return trip had been cancelled and they were sitting in the middle of the Red Sea. His communications officer looked over at him with a confused expression on his face.

"Sir, I've got an incoming message from Jordon but the verification code is from Gitmo. He claims he's a NCIS agent by the name of Anthony DiNozzo. He's got to be some kind of a crackpot."

Captain Wilder turned to his second in command. "Check him out, see if he's real." If it hadn't been for the destruction of the NCIS headquarters by whatever had also destroyed the USS Lincoln he would have immediately dismissed the transmission as a prank That fact combined with their station here just outside Jordanian sovereign waters while a rumored alien attack was underway meant he was more willing to listen to a crackpot.

The computer screen showed confirmation on DiNozzo's identity and Wilder took the microphone. "This is Captain Leonard Wilder of the USS Roosevelt. How can we help you, Agent DiNozzo?"

"We need you to track down the nearest ship with a rail gun."

The rail gun was still experimental and top secret. When Wilder didn't instantly respond, DiNozzo started to lose his temper. "Look, I've spent enough time getting shot at preventing foreign agents from getting their hands on that damn thing. I know it exists, I know more than one ship have one on board and I know that the projectile it shoots at mach seven is probably the only thing currently on this planet that can stop the alien that is preparing to destroy the sun." Tony stopped and took a deep breath. "Now you tell whoever you need to tell that I'm going to have targeting coordinates in T-minus five and they sure as hell better be ready to fire. DiNozzo out."

Wilder closed his eyes for a moment as he absorbed what he was about to do. Opening his eyes, he looked directly at his communications officer. The young man looked to be fresh out of the Academy and was sweating. Wilder gave him his most reassuring smile. "Get me Captain Jackson aboard the Zumwalt."

---NCIS---

Coughing, McGee rolled onto his back as he tried to catch his breath. Blood ran down the side of his face after being hit with flying debris, and he could tell he was running a fever. Whether the fever was from what had killed Staff Sergeant Shaffer a lifetime ago on that small Marine Corps base or from the injuries he received that same day that were now infected, he didn't know. What he did know was that he had to use that bag of black sand and the ancient knowledge in his head to bring Optimus Prime back to life before his body failed him or before any more of his friends died. He opened his eyes to find someone staring down at him.

Major Lennox was getting ready to call for a medic when the bloodied civilian looked up at him. "Are you McGee?" A brief nod was the only response he received before the man was trying to climb to his feet. "Whoa, wait a minute; you don't look so good."

McGee shook him off. "No time, gotta get to Optimus." He managed three steps before his knees buckles. Lennox grabbed him on one side, Epps on the other.

"We'll get you to Optimus Prime later, but first we need to get out of here before the airstrike gets here." The three men angled across the open area and were half way to safety when a Decepticon landed in front of them. Lennox and Epps brought up their weapons and opened fire. Ignoring them both, he reached for McGee.

Coming out of nowhere with a recognizable howling screech, Jetfire landed on top of the Decepticon and for the first time since he awoke from his sleep-state, his weapons fired properly. He destroyed the Decepticon in a mercifully short battle before standing in front of McGee with the familiar tilt. Jetfire raised his hand in greeting and with an exhausted smile, McGee returned the gesture. Without warning, the catbot Decepticon that had terrorized the team that first day rolled in and attacked Jetfire, its tail puncturing through his chestplate. Jetfire grabbed its head and yanked hard, ripping it free. The beheaded Decepticon hung from Jetfire's body until he pulled the tail free and the pieces tumbled to the ground. With a groan, Jetfire dropped to his knees. "Run my friend, save yourself, save us all."

From the South, four B-1 bombers could be seen just coming over the horizon and radio contact confirmed the ten F-18 fighters coming from the nearby carrier. Lennox and Epps rushed their charge to safety as even the approaching tanks changed direction and began to move back.

---NCIS---

Groaning, Gibbs became aware as his body began reporting in. Back against the wall, check. Killer headache, check. Alien robot using him as target practice, check. Incoming bomber, that caught his attention and his eyes popped open. Yes, coming up fast was not one, but several bombers. The years he served in the Corps honed his reactions and he never had to stop to think before pulling Fornell and Ziva down against the wall with him. "Take cover." He didn't let go of them until the ground stopped shaking.

---NCIS---

McGee obediently ran in the direction indicated until that inner knowledge started screaming at him to go now, that time was running out. He was close enough to see the red and blue form under the camouflage netting and veered to the side to reach him. Behind him a one-ton bomb landed on a cluster of Decepticons, blasting them to bits. The concussion from the blast blew him off his feet, tearing the back of his jacket, but he rolled with it and was immediately back on his feet, running to his goal. Black smoke made it almost impossible to see, but he knew where he was going. Almost there, a large tank moved against him in a way no military tank was capable of. It fired a shell that detonated only feet from McGee before changing shape to gloat over his victory. Before Megatron could reach the limp figure on the ground, the fighter jets arrived, forcing him to take to the air to save himself. Lennox and Epps arrived at McGee's side only seconds later, already calling for a medic.


	22. Chapter 22

**a/n - A small epilogue will follow, but this baby is basically done!! How you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it? Thank you all!! **

Ziva slowly raised her head, blinking the grit out of her eyes as the smoke cleared around them. Next to her, Gibbs and Fornell also raised up. Gibbs was the first to see the medics rushing to a fallen McGee and was immediately on his feet. The other two followed him, arriving as one of the medics began performing CPR on McGee. They watched as he was shocked twice before the medic looked at them, shaking his head. Gibbs did the only thing he knew how to do at that point. He dropped to his knees next to the limp form and leaned down to whisper in his ear. "You do not have permission to die on me McGee. Do you hear me? You do not have permission to die." Next to his left knee was the shattered evidence jar, the black sand a stark contrast to the white and bloodstained sand McGee lay on.

Surrounding them as if an honor guard for their fallen comrade, the soldiers of NEST and the Autobots stood silently, even the badly injured Jetfire waited in support of his friend.

Lost in a mist, McGee was not aware of what was happening to his body. Instead he found himself caught in a blinding white light and face to face with alien beings.

"What happened? Am I dead?"

"We are The Dynasty of the Primes and we have been watching you."

"Why?"

The being seemed amused by his question. "The Matrix of Leadership is a force beyond anything your world has ever seen. It is capable of great good or of great destruction. You have proven yourself worthy of it, by your sacrifice and your courage. You did not seek this power for yourself, but to help others and to protect your world."

"I didn't find it in time. Nothing's left of it."

"Your stubbornness and determination has brought you this far. Don't let yourself loose hope now; not when you're so close."

So close, so close, how many times had that phrase been uttered by him since this began? A part of McGee became aware of beyond the whiteness and he heard his boss giving him his orders. One thing Timothy McGee could not do was ignore an order from Gibbs and without conscious thought he took a breath and opened his eyes.

Gibbs almost fell when McGee suddenly opened his eyes and sat up. The only thing that shocked him more was the tiny whirlwind starting next to his knee. The black sand scattered when McGee was hit was being lifted up and was reforming. A metallic dagger with a crystal center dropped into McGee's hand and he staggered to his feet.

Part of Gibbs wanted to push the young man back down, but something was happening that was bigger than all of them so, instead, he helped him to his feet. McGee walked at first and then began to run towards Optimus. The rest of the group followed, not fully understanding. When he reached the robot, he climbed onto the hand, and moved up the arm until he was on the still chest. With a knowledge he still did not fully understand, McGee plunged the dagger against the thick metal chestplate. It should have shattered in his hand, at worst, or bounced off, at best. Instead, it began glowing and easily sank into position. The metal giant began to tremble, then shake as blue lightning crossed Optimus Prime's body. The Matrix flew back out and landed in McGee's hand as he scrambled off before Optimus stood up.

The leader of the Autobots had just stood before a massive earthquake sent him back to the ground. The humans scattered as shock after shock rumbled the ground. It was no natural disaster, the Fallen had arrived to take what he wanted.

The Autobots attacked with everything they had, but nothing slowed down the alien titan. Optimus Prime was still bringing his systems back online and was helpless to stop the attack. The Fallen was not interested in any of them; all he wanted was the dagger still in McGee's hand. No human alive could have resisted the energy wave that pulled it free. Once the dagger was in his possession, the Fallen spoke to them for the first time. "I now claim the energy of your sun." He vanished only to reappear on top of the pyramid.

"No, he's going to turn on the Machine. We have to stop him." McGee was almost unconscious on his feet as he tried to go after him.

Jetfire raised his hands as he addressed Optimus Prime. "You are the last of the Primes, it is your destiny alone to defeat him. Your powers are beyond anything you could imagine. Take my components and fulfill your destiny. You need wings my friend." He looked back at the humans who had set him on this journey. "I never did a darn thing right until now." Before they understood what he meant, Jetfire leaned forward and snuffed out his own spark.

Nobody moved at first, shocked by the sacrifice made by the elderly robot. After a moment, Optimus reached out and touched his head. "Sacrifice this great must not be wasted." Ratchet stepped forward and began the task of adding Jetfire's components to Optimus Prime's form. The speed he worked at was dizzying and it only took a few minutes before he was done. Optimus nodded his thanks to Ratchet and blasted off, the familiar howling screech bringing a smile to the faces that first met him in the museum. Fornell walked over to the skeletal remains of their old friend and reverently touched his head.

"Thanks, Gramps."

---NCIS---

Unnoticed by the giants converging on the top of the pyramid, two more figures were working their way up. DiNozzo and Sacks were near the top when the Fallen made his appearance, followed by Megatron. On the ground below them, rows of tanks and heavy artillery units made their way to defend the pyramid. The Fallen merely swept his hands in the air and they were tossed away like chaff in the wind. Sacks had to scramble backwards to avoid a flying tank while DiNozzo made a last dash to the top, coming to a stop right behind Devastator. He pulled the radio close to his mouth and whispered the order to fire. "Prepare to target the weapon, I am directly beneath the enemy. Try not to hit me please." He slowly recited the exact coordinates they would need to hit him dead center, then closed his eyes and waited.

Devastator had no intentions of moving as he had a perfect view as Optimus Prime drew near. Out in the ocean a top secret weapon began its firing sequence as hundreds of electromagnets sped the massive bullet down the path, each one helping to increase its speed. Theory stated the projectile could reach mach seven, but the reality of six point nine three was close enough. Too focused on the arrival of Optimus, none noticed the incoming bullet until Devastator's body shattered from the impact.

The moment of impact sent DiNozzo sliding down the pyramid. Sacks was waiting and caught him, both of them sliding a few more feet before they could secure themselves. One glance at what was approaching sent them into a controlled slide down the pyramid.

The destruction of Devastator caused Optimus to adjust his aim as he dove at the pyramid. Ignoring him, the Fallen placed the Matrix in the spire of the Machine and a blinding white light beamed out into the sky. As he came closer, Optimus extended his arms in front of him, turning his fingers into a heavy duty ram to smash through the spire and destroy the Machine's ability to draw power from the sun. As the beam of light shorted out, it crossed the bodies of Megatron and the Fallen, burning them and melting holes in their thick plating. Megatron screamed in pain and anger as his master ignored him, his attention fully on Optimus Prime.

"How dare you challenge me? I am Prime."

Optimus easily blocked the blast. "You turned on your brothers and lost the right to be called Prime. I am the only Prime now and I will avenge my ancestors." Jetfire had been right, powers previously unknown to Optimus were at his disposal. Trying to escape, the Fallen did not see Optimus rip off the metal spire and dive towards him. Trapped, the Fallen called out to Megatron for help. Megatron knew a losing battle when he saw one and chose to save himself, flying through the rip in the sky the Fallen had created for his own escape. Optimus drove the spire through his skull. As the tear in the space and time continuum closed behind Megatron, the Fallen let out a shriek before his spark was extinguished. The metal body fell against the pyramid and rolled to the bottom as DiNozzo and Sacks watched in disbelief.

---NCIS---

The celebration was just getting started when two battered sports cars pulled into the abandoned town. Sacks and DiNozzo climbed out and slapped each other on the back before joining their friends. Gibbs and Fornell grinned at them and handed each a water bottle.

"You two all right?"

"Yeah, we're fine Boss. Everybody okay here?" DiNozzo looked around but didn't see McGee. He tried to keep his tone casual. "Probie sleeping on the job again?"

Gibbs shook his head. He could read DiNozzo like a book. "He's over there, talking with Optimus Prime." Tony looked over Gibbs' shoulder and sure enough, McGee was deep in conversation with Optimus and Ratchet. After a few minutes he rejoined his teammates. He was bloodied and bruised and looked like he could sleep a week and was obviously happy to be alive.

"Umm, Boss, we've talked and it's been decided that Ratchet is going to return to NCIS with us. Megatron escaped, and well, you know…"

If Gibbs had any objections they were brushed aside by the arrival of another jeep. Eli David climbed out, looking anxiously for his daughter. Ziva came around the corner, with a small metal something dogging her heels. She introduced Java to her father, smothering a laugh at his reaction to Java's announcement that he was committed to serve his warrior queen. "Father, why are you here?"

Eli sputtered in shock at how calm Ziva was after days of battling aliens. "Why am I… where else would I be? How often does my daughter fight aliens?"

Ziva couldn't help it, she started to laugh. In his exhaustion, McGee joined in a few seconds later. Giddy with relief, within moments the entire team was hysterical with laughter.

Eli wasn't sure how to take their reaction. "How often do you fight aliens? Ziva? Ziva?"

Finally in answer, Ziva kissed her father's cheek. "I would be so bored at Mossad now, Father. I hope you understand." She kissed him again and walked off arm in arm with DiNozzo and McGee. Before Eli David could come up with a single question, Fornell walked up and introduced himself.

"We left our car in the desert back in Egypt. Could you use some of your influence to get it back for us?"

"You drove to Egypt?" Eli looked around and decided he really didn't want to know.


	23. Epilogue

**a/n - now it is done. Thanks to all who stuck through it with me, your comments and feedback mean the world to me. I'm working on a half dozen stories at the moment; the one closest to being finished will be the next one I'll start posting.**

Epilogue

The return trip would be much more dignified for the Autobots as the soldiers stepped back and allowed them to enter the cargo plane on their own, joking with the humans they had fought alongside. One untransformed vehicle remained on the tarmac, apparently refusing to leave. Two Israeli soldiers cautiously approached the battered black sedan after watching several of the Autobots transform. They tapped on the left fender and then jumped back, afraid of what would happen.

The car didn't move, and they crept forward again, only slightly more bold. All the windows were broken and the interior was filled with sand to the top of the door frames, while the three flattened tires gave it a rakish tilt. Gibbs and Fornell came up behind the men, both smirking as they watched them. The taller of the two soldiers turned to Gibbs, pointing over his shoulder.

"This one doesn't seem to do very much, does it?"

"It's assigned to the FBI, what do you expect? You boys are going to have to push it onboard." Next to him, Fornell sputtered, but didn't comment. Gibbs shot him an even wider grin before moving to speak with Optimus Prime and McGee.

The medic with the NEST unit had wanted to fly McGee straight to a military hospital, but he'd refused, desiring to return to the familiarity of DC. Cleaned up and bandaged, McGee looked even rougher than he had in the desert and Gibbs wasn't sure if he'd done the right thing by agreeing with him. Optimus, too, appeared to be concerned.

"Timothy, you have nothing to prove. Allow yourself the rest necessary to recover from your injuries."

"Optimus is right, McGee. You were dead, for Pete's sake, you need to rest."

McGee looked between his boss and the leader of the Autobots. "I was dead, now I'm better." Neither one of them looked impressed so he tried again. "Look, after we get back and I see my sister and know she's all right, then I'll get all the rest I need. Honestly, that's all I need."

Gibbs still wasn't convinced. "How's your head?"

"I have a headache; a regular, run-of-the-mill headache." He turned to Optimus for confirmation of what he already knew.

Optimus tilted his head down to better look at the humans. "The ancient knowledge has been returned to the Matrix. Timothy's mind is, once again, fully human." As he was speaking, DiNozzo and Sacks came up behind them.

DiNozzo threw his arm around McGee's shoulder. "Well, as human as our Klingon speaking geek ever gets, you mean." He poked at his partner in jest, but everyone saw how careful he was to avoid McGee's injuries.

Sacks was more serious as he addressed the giant robot. "This is over, right? Cause nothing personal, but I'd be happy to never see one of you guys again."

"We may have won this battle, but I fear the war may be a long way from over. Megatron escaped and not all of the Decepticons were destroyed. We must continue to be vigilant for someday he will be back." Optimus said nothing further as he climbed onboard the cargo plane with Sacks following, arguing that from this point on, it was a military problem and he was a civilian.

The rest of the humans gathered at the base of the ramp, waiting for the final call to load up as Eli David pulled alongside the plane in his jeep. His driver waited for him while he jumped out. He smiled broadly at his daughter before turning his attention to Gibbs. "We've established a video link with your temporary headquarters. Director Shepard would like a word with all of you before you board."

Five Americans and their Israeli Liaison Officer followed the Director of Mossad into their small communications room at the airport. The feed was grainy, but the sight of home was a welcome one. The figures crowded onto the screen seemed equally happy to see them.

"Jethro, it's good to see you, all of you." Jenny Shepard looked appraisingly at her team. "Tim, you're looking even more battered than the last time we saw you."

"I'm all right, ma'am." He noticed a figure behind the director. "Sarah, is that you? What did you do to your hair?"

Sarah blanched and pointed to the other Goth in the small room. "It was Abby's idea." Abby immediately passed the attention off to Palmer.

"Jimmy thinks she's beautiful."

James Palmer was known for many things at NCIS; being quick on his verbal feet was not one of them. He clutched Sarah's hand while he stared at McGee. The rest of the occupants of the trailer smirked at them. Tim honestly liked Ducky's young assistant, but he had his brotherly duties to uphold. He pointedly looked at their joined hands. "Palmer, what are your intentions towards my sister?"

Biting back laughter, Gibbs stepped in to take control of the situation. "What's the status there?"

Jenny's amusement gave way to sadness. "Five dead, but it could have been a lot worse. We still have over a dozen hospitalized, but it looks like they are all going to recover. The SeeBee's are scheduled to arrive at the end of the week to start the reconstruction of the building. Admiral Morshower has been graceful enough to push the funding through so we didn't have to wait. At the moment we are working in temporary structures"

Gibbs nodded, it could have been so much worse on every front.

---NCIS---

The day after the last memorial service found the team relaxing for the first time since their first encounter with aliens.

Ziva returned to her apartment after an exhilarating run to find a perfectly prepared espresso waiting for her. "Thank you Java." She curled up on the sofa as a footstool was scooted close for her to rest her feet.

"My warrior queen." He bowed as he handed her a printout from the international contacts he had skimmed while she was out. Ziva smiled her thanks as she began to read about the Mossad operations her father would never tell her about.

Only a few miles away, Tim and Tony settled in for an afternoon of cheesy science fiction movies, beer and pizza. McGee still wasn't sleeping well and DiNozzo had made it his goal to make sure his Probie recovered from the experience.

Sacks waited for his flight to Detroit. This week he wanted to see his grandfather in person. Some things just could not be explained over the telephone. Once his flight was airborne he looked in the direction of the Navy Yard and thought about everything that had happened. The building dedication was scheduled already; he and Fornell had joined the NCIS agents in looking over the plans. Overall, the building would have the same footprint as before with the only exterior modification an atrium entrance. The atrium would be a peaceful addition, with its curving walkways and five benches along the paths. Each bench would carry a plaque dedicated to one of the fallen members of NCIS lost the day the Decepticons attacked. He and his boss had been invited to a private ceremony to plant flowers around each bench after the dedication and he knew that Fornell was planning on miniature white roses to be placed next to Cynthia's bench.

Below and to the East of the flight path, Jenny and Ducky were reviewing the final plans for the lower levels. Ducky was pleased with the minor modifications he'd asked for and received. The flex space next to his new office would make a nice surprise for Palmer who struggled to study in various corners of autopsy. Abby interrupted their discussion, her list in hand.

"Director Shepard, no one's given me a budget to work with. How will I know which of these to request if I don't know how much money I have to work with?"

Jenny smiled and braced herself for the flying hug she knew was coming. "You misunderstood me, Abby. That's not a list of options, you get everything on the list."

"Everything?"

"Yep."

"Even the…"

"Yes."

"And the…"

"That too."

For a split second, the Goth was silent as it sunk in and Jenny wished for a camera. She saw it coming and so did Ducky who moved quickly behind her to brace the smaller woman. Abby hugs were legendary, but sometimes dangerous.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'll have the best equipped lab of all the agencies." The three of them ended up several feet back before they had their footing again.

Ducky helped Jenny gently pull away from Abby. It would take several more weeks before the cast was off her arm. Once free, Jenny gave her another smile. "I don't have to turn in the final requisitions until the end of the business day, so if there's anything else you want to add now's the time to do it." As expected, that fully distracted the young woman and they were able to make their escape.

His hand on her elbow, Ducky escorted Jenny as they skirted the construction zone. The Navy SeeBee's had arrived on schedule and been accompanied by several battalions of workers from the NEST forces along with most of the Autobots. After many jokes about 'undocumented alien workers' the human workers got out of the way and watched as Optimus Prime and his warriors assembled the steel framework of the new building in less than forty-eight hours. It was never confirmed, but Jenny suspected the ease of her budgetary concerns had something to do with the elimination of Director Galloway's entire department, but she was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Ducky's question brought her attention back to the Yard.

"Will Jethro be joining us later?"

"Jethro had a promise to keep today."

In a small suburb in Virginia, Gibbs leaned back and looked at his handiwork. The last coat of stain had dried and beautifully brought out the grain of the wood. Fornell may be an amateur woodworker, but the deck had turned out well. Tobias brought out two beers and handed him one before joining him. The two of them sat in lawn chairs, feet propped up on the cooler as they toasted each other.

"Here's to saving the world."

---NCIS---

A nondescript building in Langley, Virginia sat on a secondary road only a few miles from the headquarters of the CIA. The truckers that passed it on their way down Interstate 66 would never notice it was in use by anyone, let alone by agents of the CIA. Former Director Galloway sat inside one of the soundproof rooms, awaiting his fate.

The door opened and Galloway glared at the agent that entered. "You have no right to keep me here, do you know who I am?"

Trent Kort dragged the empty chair back away from the table before sitting on it and resting his feet on the table. "I know who you used to be. Now you're just a prisoner. Colluding with the enemy is a very serious charge according to the laws you had passed. Now you'll get to see that first hand."

"You'll never get away with it."

"Oh, I think I already have." Kort waved in a soldier waiting in the hallway. "Your trial, of course, will be delayed until the mission is declassified. Enjoy your stay."


End file.
